Silver Dagger Book Tours
  • Welcome!
  • Current Tours
    • Book Tours
  • Book a Tour
  • Open Sign Ups
  • Contact
  • About
  • Welcome!
  • Current Tours
    • Book Tours
  • Book a Tour
  • Open Sign Ups
  • Contact
  • About
Silver Dagger Book Tours

 

Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex - Book Tour and Giveaway

7/18/2022

37 Comments

 
Picture
Picture

Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex
by Carole P. Roman
Genre: YA Teen Superhero Fantasy Adventure

Picture
Templeton Academy- the superhero high school is finally open!
The prestigious academy is recruiting the best of the best to enroll in its student body.
The school is as mysterious as it is exclusive.
Grady Whill thinks there is nothing special about him to make the grade.
However, his best friend, Aarush Patel has been selected and thinks Grady has the right stuff.
Even school bully, Elwood Bledsoe is attending.
If Grady is fortunate enough to be picked, his guardian has forbidden him to attend.
Will a family secret prevent Grady from becoming the superhero he was destined to be?



Goodreads * Amazon

​

Picture
Picture
​PROLOGUE
Scarface Mountain – Present Day


There Whill Be Blood

A BARELY COOLED LUMP of lava hardened under my feet. One of my sneakers was stuck between two small rocks in the solidifying mess. I stared at my foot in disbelief. Instinct told me I should be a human torch, my legs nothing more than toasted stumps. I glanced up, my heart beating wildly. We were trapped on the side of the mountain facing our school, separated by a burning sea of molten rocks.
The world around me steamed, the lava staining the sky burnt orange. Trees swallowed by molten rock looked like skeletal hands emerging from a grave that glowed beneath the blackened crust. I saw heat waves shimmering from the earth but felt none of its intensity. I pulled fiercely, feeling my ankle twist. Aarush steadied me as I nearly toppled over. He wasshirtless, his back slick with sweat and covered with scrapes. His fingers worked feverishly to free my foot.
Overhead two helicopter-sized pterodactyls circled the craggy summit. The wind from their leathery wings buffeted the two of us. I think the air they circulated stopped the patches of lava from cooking us alive, but what do I know?
“We better get moving, Grady. Leave your sneaker. We are risking getting burned by staying too long in one spot.” The ever-practical Aarush reasoned as he pulled the velcro releas- ing my foot. I wobbled, then fell to one knee.
“Do you think they’re real?” I hollered to my friend over the noise, pointing upward.
“I’m not sure,” Aarush responded with a shake of his head. “Right now I can’t tell the difference between fantasy and real- ity.” The answer to that question was resolved when one of the predatory birds spiraled downward in a dive. “We have to go that way!” He waved to the lee side of the mountain, where small brush fires dotted the hillside. “The lava appears to be traveling in the other direction.” His hands moved to push glasses up on his nose, only to realize they were long gone, lost in our escape.
“Look out!” Aarush hunched down as the wind from the pterdactal’s wings fanned the area around us. “Oh yes, I’d say they’re real!”
Flames shot up as the aptly named Scarface Mountain erupted like a Fourth of July Fireworks show.
“It’s not even a volcano!” Aarush shouted, his voice cracking. I could hardly hear him over the buzzing and hissing spewing from the hollow cone. I looked at his face, wondering if this was a good time to tell him he didn’t look like he was on the spectrum. Displays of emotion didn’t come easily to him.
“Really?” I shouted. “You think that matters now?”
The earth shook, breaking the surface around us. Stones bobbed like bouys in a burning river. The ground collapsed cracking open a chasm, the sulfuric smell of rotting eggs assailed my nostrils. We both fell onto the soil sliding down Scarface’s rocky incline. I closed my eyes, the world spinning by with dizzying speed.
I heard Aarush scream. “Tuck your head and elbows!”
It seemed like the natural thing to do. Covering my head, I pulled up my knees allowing my arms and flank to take the worst of the beating while I prayed the lava stayed on the other side of the hill.
Trees uprooted and debris loosened as if someone had upended the mountain like a salt shaker. We rolled, our clothes catching on torn roots. Branches lashed my face. the musty scent filled my nostrils until I thought I would choke. I didn’t know if it was the beating I was taking or the smell. Either way, tears coursed down my face.
Aarush rushed past me. Sharp rocks dug into my skin, scraping me raw. The rapid descent and the spinning scenery made my gorge rise. All I saw was a blurred green landscape as if water had diluted a painting leaving everything indistinct, smudged.
My chest tightened as it did when I became skittish, my breathing turning into a wheeze. “Breathe!” My inner-voice ordered. The air was sucked out rather than in, no matter how I tried I couldn’t get my lungs to cooperate. Snatches of the breathing exercises flitted through my memory like a disjointed movie. Try as I might, I couldn’t get my mind and body to work together.
I couldn’t focus beyond the fact that I was sure I was about to die. Someone must have been watching over us as we made our descent. It was a miracle that neither of us ended up a splattered mess against a boulder.
I clutched at the racing ground trying to find a loose root to grab. My rubbery legs were soon too numb to be of any use.
Breathe in, breathe out. I closed my eyes, concentrating on my strained airways, trying to implement the training Miss Garcia had pounded into my head. No luck. My world nar- rowed to a tiny pinprick as I struggled for oxygen.
I heard a splash as I landed in a babbling brook a minute later. Maybe that was Aarush babbling. I was too winded to know the difference.
Cold water stole what little breath was left in my battered body, soaking through my school uniform, making it stick to my backside. The material was supposed to be impervious to water. It was obvious it had to be sent back for product testing. Apparently the special material failed under extraor- dinary circumstances. The cloth acted like a sponge becoming waterlogged and weighted on my body.
I noticed with no small amount of relief that it was cold and we hadn’t landed in a sea of burning lava.
“Where’s the lava?” I croaked.
“It went down the front side of the mountain,” Aarush gasped.
I splashed around in the water as I tried to rise. Even though it was no deeper than a few inches, my body felt leaden.
We had to get moving.
My muscles refused to work no matter how hard I coaxed them. I was a patchwork of stinging abrasions, and I tasted iron in my mouth where I’d bitten my tongue. Rolling over, I crawled on my stomach to the edge of the water. I lay onto the bank where I tried to catch my breath. Blood dripped into my eye from a cut over my brow making my vision fuzzy.
My left hand appeared to be stuck. I fumbled with my right hand to find my inhaler they’d given me at school, blindly bringing it to my lips to take a blessed puff. It worked faster than any inhaler I used at home. The medicine filled my throat, traveling into my airways opening my chest like bellows.
Relief. Pure relief. It worked. My airways expanded. I wasn’t so positive about the rest of my body. I tugged my left arm, but it wouldn’t move.
Someone groaned. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t me. I had to get up and help Aarush. Taking another deep breath, I crushed the crazy thoughts galloping in my head and focused on what to do next.
On a shaking elbow, I propped myself up to find a pair of finely polished boots planted on top of my hand. The foot pressed down, gently at first, then with a bit of force, enough so small pieces of gravel embedded in my flesh. I pressed my mouth into a firm line, refusing to utter a sound. The tips of my ears burned. I knew they were bright red; I could feel their heat. It matched the warmth of the ring I wore around my neck.
The sound of a deep voice snickering sent chills down my spine. It grew into booming laughter that filled the ravine, the sound of it reminding me how much I hated that kind of thing.
I peered up. The bright sun blotted out my captor’s face. I didn’t need to see it to know who was above me. I recognized the voice.
The prehistoric birds made one last circle over us. I watched, stupefied, as they banked toward the setting sun.
“At last!” he shouted to the sky like a triumphant combatant.
At last? I thought. Who speaks like that? A chuckle escaped my lips before I could stop it. Is that the best you can do? I wanted to ask. I pulled my hand, trying to extricate myself.
Oddly enough, he let me. I rolled onto my back and considered the goliath looming over me. His jutting chin obstructed my view of his face. As if he knew what I was thinking, he looked down so I could see the dark pits that served as eyes. Hunched like a Neanderthal, he towered over me, an evil smile revealing oversized teeth. They could have been tombstones they were so big. His jawline hardened into granite as I watched him.
You think I’m kidding? I watched his skin tone change as his flesh tightened into living and breathing stone—impossi- ble, magical, living and breathing stone.
“Now what?” he asked, his voice echoing in the small newly created canyon.
Good question, I wanted to say, but having felt the power of those solid fists, I felt it prudent not to volunteer anything. We had a good, long stare that seemed to go on forever.
Like me, you’re probably wondering how I got here.
Long story.
My name is Grady Whill, and a little over twelve months ago, I was an average kind of guy in a mediocre middle school with a brilliant but nerdy best friend.
Aarush moaned. Yep, that’s him.


Picture
Picture
Picture
Carole P. Roman is the award-winning author of over fifty children's books. Whether it's pirates, princesses, spies, or discovering the world around us, her books have enchanted educators, parents, and her diverse audience of children of all ages.
Her best-selling book, The Big Book of Silly Jokes for Kids: 800+ Jokes! has reached number one on Amazon in March of 2020 and has remained in the top 200 books since then.
She published Mindfulness for Kids with J. Robin Albertson-Wren.
Carole has co-authored two self-help books. Navigating Indieworld: A Beginners Guide to Self-Publishing and Marketing with Julie A. Gerber, and Marketing Indieworld with both Julie A. Gerber and Angela Hausman.
Roman is the CEO of a global transportation company, as well as a practicing medium.
She also writes adult fiction under the name Brit Lunden and has created an anthology of the mythical town of Bulwark, Georgia with a group of indie authors.
Writing is her passion and one of her favorite pastimes. Roman reinvents herself frequently, and her family calls her the 'mother of reinvention.' She resides on Long Island, near her children and grandchildren.
​


Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads


Picture
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
​

July 18
kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours

July 19
Lady Hawkeye

July 20
#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

July 21
4covert2overt ☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼

July 22
The Sexy Nerd 'Revue'

July 23
A Wonderful World of Words
Anna del C. Dye official page

July 25
❧Defining Ways❧

July 26
Bedazzled By Books

July 27
Books a Plenty Book Reviews

July 28
Books all things paranormal and romance

July 29
ⒾⓃⓉⓇⓄⓈⓅⒺⒸⓉⒾⓋⒺ ⓅⓇⒺⓈⓈ
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin'

Aug 1
Craving Lovely Books
Sylv.net

Aug 2
Character Madness and Musings

Aug 3
eBook Addicts

Aug 4
Girl with Pen

Aug 5
Inside the Insanity

Aug 7
Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Aug 8
A Reader's Book Corner
Twisted Book Ramblings

Aug 9
Insane Books

Aug 10
Literary Gold

Aug 11
Midnight Book Reader

Aug 12
Big Canvas Reads
The Scratching Post

Aug 15
Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read
The Book Dragon

Aug 16
Scrupulous Dreams

Aug 17
nanasbookreviews

Aug 18
Teatime and Books
The Bookshelf Fairy


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Picture
37 Comments
Comps And-Books
7/18/2022 05:54:57 am

Great cover!!

Reply
Bea LaRocca
7/18/2022 06:38:49 am

An awesome cover, synopsis and excerpt, Grady Whill and the Templeton Codex sounds like a great story to share with my teen-aged grandchildren. Thank you for sharing your bio and book details and for offering a giveaway

Reply
Sherry
7/18/2022 07:09:36 am

I like the cover and the excerpt.

Reply
Marcy Meyer
7/18/2022 07:16:17 am

I like the cover. It looks great. Sounds like a good story.

Reply
Carole P. Roman link
7/18/2022 10:14:31 am

I am loving all these positive comments. My son designed the book cover with Leeros Art. Hope you enjoy my new book!!

Reply
Michele Soyer
7/18/2022 10:49:45 am

Have to buy this for my grandson - he will love it!

Reply
Rita Wray
7/18/2022 11:19:29 am

My grandson would like it.

Reply
xjanelx78
7/18/2022 12:11:32 pm

Really nice cover and excerpt, looking forward to reading this!

Reply
Jon Heil
7/18/2022 01:00:00 pm

Looking like a scooby doo and Velma got confused

Reply
wendy hutton
7/18/2022 01:24:48 pm

this sounds like a wonderful book for the grankids

Reply
Terri Quick
7/18/2022 02:12:47 pm

Cool cover

Reply
Debbie P
7/18/2022 03:14:41 pm

This sounds like a really good book. My niece would like this a lot.

Reply
Kim Kern
7/18/2022 05:31:01 pm

Sounds like a great story!

Reply
Christina G.
7/18/2022 06:19:49 pm

I love this genre. It reminds me of Encyclopedia Brown, which was my favorite.

Reply
Jessica Adams link
7/18/2022 08:41:47 pm

The book looks interesting. The cover is neat.

Reply
bn100
7/18/2022 10:50:10 pm

nice cover

Reply
Bernie Wallace
7/19/2022 05:40:20 am

How long did it take you to write your book?

Reply
Carole P. Roman link
7/21/2022 07:28:03 am

Typically it takes three to four months to write a book- but beta reading and editing add about three months to polish it off and finish.

Reply
Thomas Gibson
7/19/2022 09:48:12 am

Congrats on your tour!

Reply
David Basile
7/19/2022 01:20:47 pm

Looks like a really good book

Reply
Stephanie Liske
7/19/2022 02:20:54 pm

I like the book details.

Reply
kelly tupick
7/19/2022 02:42:52 pm

The book looks great, love the cover.

Reply
Susan Smith
7/19/2022 06:33:42 pm

I like the cover and excerpt. Thanks for sharing!

Reply
beth shepherd
7/19/2022 06:48:02 pm

This looks like a great read!

Reply
Ann Fantom
7/19/2022 06:49:44 pm


This sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.

Reply
David Hollingsworth
7/19/2022 09:31:43 pm

Sounds like a good book!

Reply
Serge B
7/20/2022 05:31:10 am

I enjoyed the excerpt

Reply
Debbi Wellenstein
7/20/2022 08:21:19 am

I enjoyed the excerpt. Thanks for the giveaway!

Reply
Wendy Jensen
7/20/2022 12:17:11 pm

The book details sound like a great teen read.

Reply
Danielle Day
7/20/2022 09:21:55 pm

It sounds good.

Reply
Barbara Montag
7/21/2022 08:42:30 am

We have tween grandkids who would love this!
Thank you for sharing it.

Reply
Julie Bickham
7/21/2022 08:45:38 am

I'm sure my step son would have fun reading this.

Reply
Cynthia C
7/21/2022 11:29:38 am

The excerpt is interesting. Thank you for sharing it.

Reply
Allison Swain
7/24/2022 04:32:21 pm

The cover is super cool! Ecxerpt was also fun to read.
Thank you for the chance to win!

Reply
Piroska
7/27/2022 11:32:05 pm

Thanks for the great excerpt. This book sounds wonderful. My granddaughter would love it. Great cover!

Reply
K
8/6/2022 11:04:51 pm

This seems like such a great read! Thanks so much for sharing!

Reply
Francine A
8/12/2022 05:37:19 pm

Sounds great

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    **NEW** Subscribe to the Silver Dagger Reader Newsletter to stay up to date on new tours!

    * indicates required

    Categories

    All
    Action
    Adventure
    African American
    Anthology
    Apocalyptic
    Audiobook
    Australian
    Bdsm
    Billionaire Romance
    Biography
    Chick Lit
    Childrens
    Christian
    Coloring-book
    Comedy
    Coming Of Age
    Contemporary Fiction
    Contemporaryromance
    Contemporary Romance
    Cookbook
    Cozymystery
    Cozy Mystery
    Crime
    Cyberpunk
    Dark
    Dark Romance
    Drama
    Dystopian
    Educational
    Eroticromance
    Erotic Romance
    Fairytale
    Fantasy
    Financial
    Giveaway-hop
    Gothic
    Health And Wellness
    Historical
    Historicalromance
    Historical-romance
    Holiday
    Horror
    Humorous
    Inspirational
    Legal-thriller
    Lgbtq
    Literaryfiction
    Mafiaromance
    Mafia Romance
    Magicrealism
    Magic Realism
    Mcromance
    Mc-romance
    Memoir
    Menage
    Middlegrade
    Middle Grade
    Military
    Mystery
    Newadult
    New Adult
    Nonfiction
    Paranormal
    Paranormalromance
    Paranormal Romance
    Parenting
    Pets
    Poetry
    Postapocalyptic
    Pulp-fiction
    Reverseharemromance
    Reverse-harem-romance
    Rockstarromance
    Rockstar-romance
    Romance
    Romanticcomedy
    Romantic Comedy
    Romanticsuspense
    Romantic Suspense
    Satirical
    Sciencefiction
    Science Fiction
    Scifi
    Scifiromance
    Scifi Romance
    Selfhelp
    Shortstories
    Short Stories
    Speculativefiction
    Speculative-fiction
    Sportsromance
    Steampunk
    Supernatural
    Suspense
    Sweetromance
    Thriller
    Timetravel
    Time-travel
    Urban
    Urbanfantasy
    Urban-fantasy
    Western
    Womensfiction
    Womens Fiction
    Ya
    Youngadult
    Young-adult
    Youngadultya
    Young Adult Ya

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016

© 2021 Silver Dagger Book Tours