VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR: The Sunrisers by Robyn Singer (Excerpt & Giveaway + Guest Post)

The Sunrisers

by Robyn Singer

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GENRE:   Lesbian Space Opera

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BLURB:

After years of adventures, professional thief and amateur noodle critic Yael is invited to join The Order of the Banshee, a collection of the greatest female thieves in the universe, despite being decades younger than any of them.

Yael’s childhood best friend, Molina, has lived the opposite life: a stern and serious member of The Sunrisers, the universe’s premiere peacekeeping organization, she’s just been promoted to Captain, serving under her father. Her first assignment of her new command: Bring down The Order of the Banshee.

Yael and Molina now find themselves on opposite sides of a conflict neither of them will escape unscathed. The love they have for each other is the same as when they were young, but either their personal values or their love will break.

In this game of cat and mouse, both women must use all their wits and tricks to stay ahead of their new enemy. Will order triumph, or will chaos? No matter what, Yael and Molina will both lose.

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Excerpt

Outside the cave, ground troops were being deployed, the sound of their combat boots stomping on the moon’s surface echoing. And inside the cave, eleven of the smartest and most dangerous women in the universe were staring daggers straight into my eyes. 

“I knew we couldn’t trust a whippersnapper,” Athena York said. 

“How very disappointing,” Beatriz Nunez snarled. 

“I have a granddaughter in the Sunrisers,” Lilith hummed. “If you tipped her off, I’ll at least respect you for going for the heart.” 

I shook my head and swung my arms around, sweating from every pore. “I swear I didn’t call them. This is all just a big misunderstanding. You have my complete loyalty.” 

Madame N’gwa cocked her head to the side and grinned. “You wanted to be a Sunriser when you were even more of a baby than you are now. Perhaps you made a deal to make your dream finally come true.” 

A shocking pain surrounded my heart. Those Sunriser bastards had stolen all the trust I’d earned from my idols through years of deceit. Whichever captain was in charge of this operation was going to pay. 

Lioness stepped forward, crushing her glass in her hand and sending small shards flying all over the place. “Thank you for sharing your story with me. But I don’t think we’ll be hearing anymore of them. Rather, I don’t think you’ll be living any more of them.” 

my mind. Or rather, a single desire.

“Do you think we hug too much?” I’d once asked when we were 13.

“I mean, if you’re getting tired of hugging, we could always try kissing,” Yael had replied.

I’d blushed and tugged at my long hair. “Are you…are you being serious?”

She’d narrowed her eyes. “Am I?”

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GUEST POST

Bring on the boo’s! Everyone loves to hate the villain! Tell us all about this truly loathed character and the inspiration behind their development.

The Sunrisers is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to “villains”. The two POV characters, Yael Pavnick and Molina Langstone, are a shameless thief, and a soldier dedicated to capturing her, respectively. They’re at odds for most of the book, but I view them both as protagonists, and neither of them is a particularly good person. It’s only in the third act does a true villainous antagonist reveal herself.

A supporting character throughout the first two acts of the novel, Princess Kaybell Kose Bythora is both the heir to the largest empire in the universe, and also Molina’s right hand as a member of The Sunrisers, the universe’s premiere peacekeeping organization. Early on, she’s presented as Molina’s snooty and mean, but fiercely loyal best friend. When the conflict with Yael begins, her prejudices begin to show, as she insists on referring to her in a multitude of derogatory ways, revealing how she sees commoners, with the exception of Molina, as little more than animals.

With Molina and Yael having been childhood friends, Kaybell is displeased as she witnesses the two fall back in love, especially as Molina ignores her suggestions for they can capture her. This boils over into a fight between the two which reveals the heart of Kaybell’s character and what she represents. She is a representation of both blatantly evil conservatives and feckless, privileged liberals who cling tightly to the idea that everyone’s opinion matters and everyone’s voice should be heard, and that having a difference of political opinion shouldn’t mean they can’t be friends, as if one party doesn’t devalue the other’s existence as a person. She thinks because she “tolerates” Molina’s views that everyone is equal and doesn’t judge her for it, that Molina shouldn’t judge her for seeing the lives of royals and nobles as more important than the lives of the average man.

What makes Kaybell a fully realized character, and not just a strawman for me to have the “heroes” overcome, is that she truly does love and respect Molina, and that never changes. She’s incredibly capable, strong, and cunning, unlike the people in the real world she’s representing, and it’s established that she’s only the way she is because of the abuse she faced from her father growing up. To end this on a comparison: I think fans of Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender will fall in love with this vermillion haired monster.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Robyn Singer is a lifelong New Yorker, and since she was a kid playing with her action figures, all she’s wanted to do is tell stories. She went to SUNY Purchase to get a degree in Playwriting & Screenwriting with a minor in Film and has produced several comic books, but she’s always had her eye on becoming a published novelist.

As an Autistic, bisexual trans woman, diversity and inclusion in stories are vitally important to her, and she seeks to represent as many groups as possible in her work. While she wants to show characters of marginalized groups experiencing joy, she also draws inspiration from real-world problems which bother her.

The Sunrisers (Cinnabar Moth Publishing, November 2022) is her debut novel. She writes novels and short stories of all genres and for all ages, and she continues to produce comic books. Her ongoing series, Final Gamble, will begin publication by Band of Bards in 2022.

Follow her on twitter: https://twitter.com/EmmaLSinger

Follow her on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robynlsinger/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sunrisers-Robyn-Singer-ebook/dp/B0B9C1HCB9/

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE:

Robyn Singer will be awarding a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter to win a $10 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveaway