With the plethora of young adult dystopian books available
today, one might think there's nothing new under the sun. Well, they'd be
wrong!
Vera Nazarian
Two-time Nebula Award finalist and 2018 Dragon Award nominee
Vera Nazarian has not only busted through the YA barrier, her wildly creative
science fiction series, The Atlantis Grail, is still gaining traction in the
genre. In fact, the series has been optioned for film!
The story begins with the discovery of a world-killing
asteroid and the first contact with the Atlantians, who had migrated to a new
world long before modern civilization began. But here, let's share the book
description of the first of the series, Qualify:
You have two options. You die, or you Qualify.
The year is 2047. An extinction-level asteroid is hurtling
toward Earth, and the descendants of ancient Atlantis have returned from the
stars in their silver ships to offer humanity help.
But there's a catch.
They can only take a tiny percent of the Earth’s population
back to the colony planet Atlantis. And in order to be chosen, you must be a
teen, you must be bright, talented, and athletic, and you must Qualify.
Sixteen-year-old Gwenevere Lark is determined not only to
Qualify but to rescue her entire family.
Because there's a loophole.
If you are good enough to Qualify, you are eligible to
compete in the brutal games of the Atlantis Grail, which grants all
winners the laurels, high tech luxuries, and full privileges of Atlantis
Citizenship. And if you are in the Top Ten, then all your wildest wishes
are granted… Such as curing your mother’s cancer.
There is only one problem.
Gwen Lark is known as a klutz and a nerd. While she's a
hotshot in classics, history, science, and languages, the closest she's come to
sports is a backyard pool and a skateboard.
This time she is in over her head, and in for a fight of her
life, against impossible odds and world-class competition—including Logan
Sangre, the most amazing guy in her school, the one she's been crushing on, and
who doesn’t seem to know she exists.
Because every other teen on Earth has the same idea.
You Qualify or you die.
With the first three books in the series already published,
the grand finale, Survive is well on its way to completion. Vera's 60,000+
followers on wattpad.com are eagerly devouring draft chapters of Survive as she
writes the final book of the series.
While waiting for the last book of The Atlantis Grail series,
readers can also enjoy her Cobweb Bride trilogy. Like The Atlantis Grail, the
first book is permanently free on Kindle. Vera's lush writing style suits the Renaissance-era
fantasy as Death seeks the promised bride.
In addition to these books, Vera has a number of highly
recommended science fiction and fantasy novels and novellas available. Stop by
her Amazon author page and check out this amazing author's books!
The Museum of Fine Arts is my favorite place in Hungary.
I always loved to draw and paint, but nowadays I do digital art. It's fun and I can use my creative side, but it doesn't replace the pencil and brush. In this post series, I thought I'll show you some of my favorite paintings and introduce you to composers you might have never heard of. Enjoy.
The Settlement of the Magyars in Hungary
Mihály Munkácsy (1844 - 1900)
This widely acclaimed artist created an entire set of realistic representations and earned international fame by recreating scenes from peasant life, picturing weatherworn landscapes and oversized Biblical displays like the Christ Trilogy, which is on permanent display in Debrecen’s Déri Museum. The Churning Woman – a moving portrait of a weary female figure – belongs to his most expressive works, alongside the Woman Carrying Firewood, a folk-themed creation that features a drowsy girl broken down under the heavy load of thin branches on her back; both paintings are exhibited in the Hungarian National Gallery. Although it is not open to the public, the Hungarian Parliament’s Munkácsy Hall houses a great masterpiece, The Settlement of the Magyars in Hungary, while plenty of his other works are proudly displayed across the globe, from Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum to New York’s Albany Museum of Art and History, Hungarian National Gallery.
Johannes Vermeer’s 1665 study of a young woman is startlingly real and startlingly modern, almost as if it were a photograph. This gets into the debate over whether or not Vermeer employed a pre-photographic device called a camera obscura to create the image. Leaving that aside, the sitter is unknown, though it’s been speculated that she might have been Vermeer's maid. He portrays her looking over her shoulder, locking her eyes with the viewer as if attempting to establish an intimate connection across the centuries. Technically speaking, Girl isn’t a portrait, but rather an example of the Dutch genre called a tronie—a headshot meant more as still life of facial features than as an attempt to capture a likeness.
A Hungarian painter. She paints portraits, landscapes, and still life, and one of her favorite subjects is hunt scenery and animal paintings. She also paints for order, such as pet portraits, family portraits, and landscapes. She became a member of the Gyöngyösi Art Club in 1966. Her works can be found all over the world at professional collectors in the United States, England, Germany, France and Netherlands. In 2010 she won the Amateur Painter contest with her "Cirinke" titled painting.
Dora Pejačević
Dora Pejačević was a Croatian composer, a member of the Pejačević noble family. She was one of the composers to introduce the orchestral song to Croatian music and her Symphony in F-sharp minor is considered by scholars to be the first modern symphony in Croatian music. Born: September 10, 1885, Budapest, Hungary
Died: March 5, 1923, Munich, Germany
Ferenc Erkel
Ferenc Erkel was a Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist. He was the father of Hungarian grand opera, written mainly on historical themes, which are still often performed in Hungary. He also composed the music of "Himnusz", the national anthem of Hungary, which was adopted in 1844. He died in Budapest.
I write speculative alternate history fiction, romantic urban fantasy, historical suspense novels as well as fun, educational, and bilingual books for children ages 2-14 about acceptance, friendship, family, and moral values such as accepting people with disabilities, dealing with bullies, and not judging others before getting to know them. I also like to encourage children to use their imagination and daydream about fantasy worlds.
Excellent post, Erika! And what a nice idea to talk about artists and composers. One of the things I love about Rick Steves' Europe on PBS is that he always takes time to visit art museums and talk about the great paintings and sculptures.
I love The Girl With the Pearl Earring. It's just amazing. What a wonderful selection of painters and composers! Thank you Erika for sharing them with us today
Today on #OurAuthorGang, Erika M. Szabo talks about her favorite artists and composers, and presents a few of her favorite paintings in Part One of her new series of blogs.