Blog Tour Guest Post: Stalking Shadows by Tahlia Newland

Title: Stalking Shadows

Author: Tahlia Newland

Series: Book Two

Pub Date: March 8, 2013

Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description:

Ripped from the safety of our world and thrust into a strange hidden realm on a quest to save her mother, Ariel aims to confront the Master Demon, but first she must defeat his bodyguard and reach the safe haven of Sheldra. She negotiates dangerous terrain and battles demons, spirits, rogue Magicians, giant water snakes and her own conflicting emotions.

Ariel wants to retain a clear focus on the task at hand so, despite Nick’s protests, she insists of a friends-only relationship with him. But the very thing she hoped would simplify her quest only complicates it with emotional, energetic and hormonal turmoil.

Despite Walnut’s continued guidance, Ariel finds herself constantly forced to rely on her own resources. Will she find the inner strength and wisdom she needs to defeat Amic and continue her journey?


Ariel wants to retain a clear focus on the task at hand so, despite Nick’s protests, she insists of a friends-only relationship with him. But the very thing she hoped would simplify her quest only complicates it with emotional, energetic and hormonal turmoil.

Despite Walnut’s continued guidance, Ariel finds herself constantly forced to rely on her own resources. Will she find the inner strength and wisdom she needs to defeat Amic and continue her journey?

Guest Post:

Words and visual images, the bread and butter of my creativity.

This guest post is by Tahlia Newland, author of the new adult contemporary fantasy, Lethal Inheritance. Stalking Shadows is the second book in her Diamond Peak Series.

I used to be a visual artist (actually I still am, it’s just not my main income anymore), then I worked in Visual Theatre for over twenty years as a writer and performer, so visual imagery is not just important to me, it’s part of who I am as an artist. Visual Theatre communicates with visual symbolism and my Diamond Peak Series is full of symbolism, so though I’m writing instead of creating visual imagery with paint or with dance, costumes, sets, props, masks and music, my writing is full of visual imagery and symbolism

About the visual imagery in the first book, Lethal Inheritance, reviewers have said such things as “truly spectacular imagery;” “unique settings;” “a rich, detailed world building”, and “It's a visual writing style - you can see the action”. About the symbolism they have said such things as; “author Newland exhibits great skill in allegorical storytelling;” and “an epic adventure with real world symbolism and depth.”

Stories come into my mind in a visual way as well. I see the scenes playing out as a movie and I write the scenes as they come into my head, so I don’t feel as if I’m making the story up, I’m more writing what I see. It makes me wonder if the stories aren’t happening somewhere in some other reality. Certainly in symbolic terms, the Diamond Peak series is played out in the psyches of every person on the planet whether we know it or not.

But the visual and written aspects of my creativity are even more linked than just how they come out in the final product. Part of my creative process in writing is to consider the book cover, and I use Photoshop to mock up different ideas at various stages of writing. Sometimes, I take a break from writing and play with Photoshop and what I come up with helps to clarify the images in my mind.

I also like to play with the ideas I’m writing about in a visual way. I did a series of anti-bullying images when I was writing You Can’t Shatter Me.

For the Diamond Peak Series I created one of the demons. (He took a bit of work and even then the one I my imagination is much scarier.)

I also created some of the settings for the Diamond Peak Series

My next book, when this series is finished and published, will be about an art student. I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting my paint brushes out again for that one.

Do you like symbolism?

Do you get strong visual images from books?

The first book in the Diamond Peak series Lethal Inheritance, is reduced to $2.99 on ebook for this month. It’s also available in paperback from all major booksellers worldwide.

 UK Kindle Store Kobo Store Apple ibook store Barnes and Noble US Kindle Store

If you already have Lethal Inheritance you can buy the sequel Stalking Shadows here.

Kindle US Kindle Kobo Store UK Kindle Barnes and Noble

Search for Tahlia Newland the ibook stores

And the prequel to the Series is FREE everywhere, find the links here.

About Tahlia Tahlia Newland is an author, reviewer and extremely casual high school teacher. She writes contemporary fantasy and magical realism with a metaphysical twist.

All her novels have received the Awesome Indies Seal of Approval for excellence in fiction and her young adult magical realism novel You Can’t Shatter Me, was awarded a B.R.A.G Medallion for an outstanding independent novel in 2013.

Tahlia lives in an Australian rainforest and loves cats, but she doesn’t have one because they eat native birds.