Introducing Bella Harte, author of Scarlett Poenix




The Seraphoenix Saga

Scarlett Phoenix

by

 Bella Harte


©
Bella Harte


Book Blurb:

Scarlett Phoenix is the jumping off point for this
exciting new YA PNR series.

"She is the only one of her kind, he is her last
hope"

Scarlett Paige is just a regular teenager until her parents suddenly decide move to back to America.  Finding herself thrust into a new school, a new town and a whole new way of life, things can't seem get any worse until her 18th birthday arrives.  Her
world as she knows it, is irrevocably changed by a whole new set of life threatening complications.

Two brothers, one to save her and one to kill her, who will win?

A terrible plan to rid the world of humanity is revealed and she is caught smack in the middle of it.  Scarlett finds herself amidst a battle that’s been waged since the beginning of time; with beings she never knew existed and hideous creatures she wished that didn’t.  Thrown into total chaos, as she is plunged into an entirely different future and one that is utterly unexpected, with dire consequences she never saw coming.  

To find out more about the first book in The
Seraphoenix Saga, see the buy links below.

Available @ Amazon Everywhere:

For a full list of
world-wide buy links click here:



Author Bio:


Bella Harte has been writing for well over a decade, and completed several novels before deciding to go in a whole new direction and write for the Young Adult genre. More specifically the YA PNR – Young Adult Paranormal Romance category.

Her first published YA Novel is ‘Scarlett Phoenix’ - Book I in The Seraphoenix Saga, with Book II:- ‘Crimson
Fire
’ being schedule for release late 2013 and Book III:- ‘Red Ashes’ in 2014.

She has also been working on two other YA PNR series:

The Angel of Death Series
 Book I – Reaper     Book II – Touched     Book III – Afterlife

Nine Lives Series
Book I – The
Glaring    Book II – Midnight
Calling     Book III - Hunters Moon  

Aside from writing, Bella has been worked as a fashion designer, interior designer, artist and currently she is figuring out ways to best market her novels. She attended Business College after leaving school, followed by Art College, where she studied:- ceramics, fashion design, pattern cutting, textiles and art. 

She lives in a quiet part of the East Midlands in England with her husband, and worked for a World-Wide Export Company for several years, which enabled her to travel to far off places around the globe and enjoy a wide and varied cross section of cultures.   

Bella says of the future: No one can predict what’s around the corner, but the journey will be a fascinating one to say the least, and I always expect the unexpected!

Bella's Links:

If you want to add me/follow me/friend me/connect/stalk me!


Book
Trailer: 











Book  Links:


Scarlett Phoenix ♥ UK Buyers

Scarlett Phoenix ♥ USA Buyers

GoodReads



‘Scarlett Phoenix’

The Seraphoenix Saga Book I

by

Bella Harte

Excerpt 

“Move,” Leo hissed. “If that thing gets in here…
well let’s just say, you don’t want to be in here with it.”
Scarlett crawled forward as fast as she could, the
hard uneven floor scraping her hands and knees. Suddenly the space was plunged
into absolute darkness as Leo closed the small door and Scarlett felt the
nearness of the walls closing in. She gulped and tried to hold in a pitiful
sob, small spaces were not her thing and small pitch black spaces were the
worst. She blinked several times trying to get her eyes to adjust to the dark.
“Shhhh…” He whispered bumping into her stationary
figure.
Clamping a lighting reflex hand across her mouth,
Leo stifled the imminent scream.
“Sshhhhh… keep moving, it’s not far and then we’ll
be in a bigger cavern.”
Scarlett upon hearing the words not far lunged
forward grappling and stumbling as fast as she could though the pitch-black
passage. She winced as the uneven hard rock bashed and bruised her knees as she
scrambled and crawled along. The only thought circling her mind.
‘Escape, escape, escape.’
She could feel Leo right at her feet as the
splintering crash of the breaking door echoed through the narrow tunnel.
A bloodthirsty screech roared horrifyingly in the
enclosed space. Scarlett wanted to scream but in her frantic effort to evade
the most spine chilling sound she’d ever heard she tumbled sightlessly through
an opening. Leo landed at the side of her, just as the Aksu Zini broke all the
laws of physics, and elongated into a winged leathery worm sliding easily into
the passage with a wet sticky slithering pop. Nimbly Leo leapt to his feet, as
the sickening squelching sound got closer by the second. He dived through the
darkness towards the wall next to the opening and yanked hard on a wooden lever
protruding from the pitch black rock; it creaked tiredly as he applied more
pressure trying to release the age-old bar.
Scarlett edged away in the blackout until she came
to an abrupt stop, she could smell the nauseating stench streaming out of the
tunnel ahead of the creature, she choked placing her sleeve over to mouth to
stop gagging.
Her mind raced, her pulse quickened and she closed
her eyes tightly praying silently that Leo was going to stop it.
The Aksu Zini lunged forward screeching, its
blazing red eyes illuminating the tunnel in a deathly glow. Scarlett couldn’t
help but look and stared in terror as the two eerie red dots grew bigger by the
second careening towards the opening and towards them faster than she could
imagine. Leo gave the lever another sharp tug and it suddenly released with a
dull crack, a huge stone crashed down covering the tunnel mouth just as the
Aksu Zini emerged into the cavern. The heavy block landed with a muffled
squelch trapping the Aksu Zini.
Scarlett could see the malevolent red eyes staring
at her in the gloom and she screamed. It echoed, bouncing off the smooth rock
walls disappearing into the depths of the nightmarish cavern. The Aksu Zini
hissed and snarled as its eyes dimmed and very so slowly winked out, the
endless darkness returning as Leo rushed to her side.
“We have to leave, take my hand,” his voice was
even and controlled. “I’m hoping it’s dead, but they take a hell of a lot of
killing, so let’s go now just in case.”
She did as he asked and reached out in the darkness,
his fingers connected with hers gripping her hand tightly, a reassuring warmth
spread through her fingers.
“Just follow me, and keep your back to the wall,”
Leo instructed. “The ledge isn’t very wide so be careful where you place your
feet.”
“But I can’t see,” she almost wailed in a whisper
as she waited for her eyes to grow accustomed to the thick black blanket
obscuring her vision.
“I can see just fine, trust me and don’t let go,”
he answered.
“That’s easy for you to say Mr. frigging night
vision.” she retorted sarcastically.
He laughed and guided her carefully through the
darkness.
Scarlett shuffled almost blindly along in the pitch
black; she had no idea where on earth they were. As her eyes became more
accustomed to the aphotic opaqueness, she could just make out his outline and
see two silver halos surrounding his eyes.
“Leo, can I ask you something?”
She was met with stony silence. She tried again.
“Leo…”
“What?”
“How are we going to get out of here?” Her
breathing was fast and shallow.
Leo’s eyes flashed brightly for a split second, and
he smiled widely, even though he knew she couldn’t see properly.
“Don’t worry, just keep hold of my hand,” he gave
her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Not far now, just don’t lean forward.”
They were creeping along a narrow but natural
ledge, which dropped off to unfathomable depths inside the massive lightless
cavern. The rock shelf climbed at a steady angle and for the next few minutes,
and all Scarlett concentrated on was keeping glued to the wall as she tried to
keep up with Leo.
‘I’m spider girl, I’m spider girl,’ she repeated
the mantra over and over again in her mind.
He stopped and she sidled next to him.
“I need you to pivot on you left foot and swing
around so that you are facing me, there’s just enough room on the ledge for
both of us.”
“You want what?” She trembled waving her free hand
uncertainly in front of her feeling nothing. “I can’t…”
 “I really
need you in front of me,” he said again. “Please…”
She wondered what was below in the deafening
silence in this chilling rock prison. She reached her right hand out into the
void again, it was shaking as she reached across and pivoted just as he had
said, grasping his coat tightly.
“Please don’t let me fall,” she whispered uneasily
as her right foot left the ledge and she swung nervously into position.
His arms clamped tightly about her trembling frame.
“I need to put your hands around my neck and hold on tight,” he replied softly,
carefully adjusting his grip around her slender frame.
Scarlett slid her hands around his neck, clutching
tightly. “You won’t let me go will you?” She asked tensely, her body suddenly
rigid with fear.
“Of course I won’t let you go,” he murmured.
She could feel the slight warmth as his cheek
brushed hers in the dark and she was acutely relieved that he couldn’t see
steaming the blush rising, burning her cheeks.
“Hold tight,” he said quietly, the words seemed to
dance off his lips. “It won’t be long till we are out of here.”
They stood as one, clinging resolutely to the rock
like a limpet in a gale. Leo’s grasp tightened just a fraction and he dived off
the ledge into the black void below.
The air rushed passed and Scarlett squeezed her
eyes tightly together and prayed. The fall seemed to last for infinity and
Scarlett resigned to the fact that she probably had only a few seconds to live,
when she suddenly felt a strong lurch followed by an abrupt sideways jolt.
“Don’t let go,” Leo said above the noise of the
air. He seemed to veer sharply to the left, Scarlett clung as tightly as she
could, daring to take a little peek when they seemed to slow down briefly.
“As if!” She replied above the rushing wind.


 ‘Scarlett Phoenix’ Character Interview
19 Questions with Scarlett
Paige

1.    
Hi Scarlett, could you tell us when and where
you were born?

     I originally come from England and my birthday is on 31st October ~ Halloween ~ one of the best days to have a birthday because you can dress up and no-one cares!

2.     Who do you look like? Your mother, father, or someone else?
I look like me! LOL My father is the tall, dark and handsome type and my mother is a willowy blonde with fine features, I suppose I look more like my mother than anyone.

3.     Do you have any brothers or sisters?
I’m an only child. However, I would’ve liked to have had some siblings.  It can get pretty lonely being an only child with dedicated career parents.  I envy my
friends Alex and Clover, they have big families and are always complaining
about the noise, who ate the last muffin, finding lost homework, they hate it,
but I think it sounds like fun. You know the drill. You always want what you
don’t have.


4.     Did you or do you know your grandparents?
No, I never met my grandparents, but by all accounts they were a colourful bunch. My father’s parents were from Switzerland and they emigrated to the States before my father was born.  Sadly they were killed in a
car crash when he was at college.  My mother’s parents were from New York, they had a little milliner’s shop that sold accessories too and that’s why my mother became a fashion designer. They were quite old when they had her and passed over when I was very small, so unfortunately I don’t remember them at all.  I do love looking at all the old photo’s though, as family history is very interesting and really very entertaining at times!



5.     Is anyone in your family famous?
Not at the moment, though my mother is a pretty cool fashion designer, not a famous one but she does have some VIP clients that I’m not at liberty to talk about, however I can say this, there are lots of music video’s which my mother has styled/dressed the singers and dancers, which is uber cool.



6.     What do you like to drink?
     I’m too young for alcohol but I love hot chocolate with those little fluffy marshmallows… mmmmm… delicious! I can drink that morning, noon and night. But for first thing in the morning I like to have a caffeine fix, so coffee is my choice to start the day.

7.     Are you a morning person?
     I like to read at night so I often get caught up in some book or another and can’t put it down until the last page is devoured.  So no not really, I like my bed, however I don’t linger too long otherwise the pain of leaving that luscious warm cocoon would be too much.

8.     What are your hobbies or interests?
I really enjoy reading, and I used to horse ride when I lived in England, but since moving to the States I haven’t had the time with settling into my new school and the big move. When I was younger I spent a lot of time in my mother’s design studio so I picked up some useful hobbies such as knitting, I can make a pretty mean scarf!  My mother taught me when I was younger so I had something to occupy myself with while she worked. I can sew and make clothes too which comes in pretty handy for clothes customization.

9.   What's your favourite food?
I’ve always loved Mexican food, hot and spicy full of flavour! LOL

10.  Nervous or calm?
Nervous underneath, externally slightly more poised.  There’s
a saying ‘Remain calm and unruffled on the surface and paddle like the devil underneath.’  I suppose that fits me perfectly.

11.  Teacher or student?
Both. I think that you
can learn something from everyone you meet, so it would be rather presumptuous
to say teacher. However, if I’m asked and can help, then I put my teachers hat
on.

12.  Leader or follower?
I don’t have herd mentality if that’s what you mean, LOL, I like to do my own thing. Though in some circumstances, that I won’t go into right now (there’s not enough paper) you have no choice but to follow and let someone else take the lead and trust in their judgement.

13.  Brave or fearful?
I’m not the ‘front row’ brave, but if it’s something I’m passionate about then I’ll step up to the plate and do my thing. I will stand my ground to the best of my abilities as the occasion dictates.

14.  Religious or superstitious?
Right now ~ Neither, I think there’s an explanation for everything.
That could be subject to change though in the near future.

15.  Tall or short?
5ft 7” so I’m about average with a slim build

16.  Long hair or short?
Very long blonde hair, I like to plait it or wear it up in a ponytail.
Long hair is great fun and you can have so many different looks.  I thought about chopping it all off once, but my mother stopped me, I’m really she did.

17.  Introvert or extrovert?
I don’t like to be the centre of attention, even though that sometimes happens.  My 16th birthday party was one of those moments.  My mother had very kindly made my outfit for the Halloween Birthday Party. All I could say when I saw it was ‘OMG!’ followed by ‘You can’t be serious?’ followed by ‘No way!’  I’m not saying anymore as I still blush crimson when I think about that outfit!

18.  Grunge or Glam? 
     I suppose you could say casual glam, not glam glam, with
moderate grunge on occasion just to liven up the mix a bit. Life’s too short to
just have one style, plus just look at all the uber cool clothes you can buy.
It’s a shopper paradise out there in the big wide world.

19.  Do you have any pets?
          Not at the moment, I would really like a Siamese cat at some point but after the    Hamster Surprise Incident I don’t think that will be happening anytime soon. When I was much younger I had a hamster called Horace and I used to let him run around the
house, until one day Horace got in mums handbag (Don’t ask me how that
happened, Ok, I thought she’d like some company at work, and Horace was the
obvious choice as he fitted perfectly in her bag).  I’ll never forget the look on her face, total shock, that frozone moment where time stands still, followed by sheer horror
and then the ear-splitting scream when she put her hand in the bag and felt
something soft warm and furry!

Thank you so much for the interview and I do hope
that you enjoy reading my story in ‘Scarlett Phoenix’ Book I of The Seraphoenix
Trilogy

Scarlett Paige






Apryl Baker

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