Today it is my pleasure to welcome author Larissa Soehn and her Sci-Fi/Fantasy novel, The Defender.

Author’s description

A woman battling depression and anxiety finds herself trapped in her own life, but when an alien device rips her away from Earth, she is forced to fulfill an impossible role and save the galaxies from destruction.

On Earth, Alexia Harmon is a mother and wife, but in a foreign galaxy, she is so much more. Torn away from her family, Alex is in an epic battle to escape from Gatlin and return to Earth. But little does Alex know, Gatlin is on the verge of destruction. The galaxy faces annihilation; a prophetic doom that was set in motion thousands of years ago.

Alex struggles to stay alive as she fights against an alien government that is trying to kill her, a species of genetically engineered creatures that are hell bent on her destruction, and the demons of her own mind that threaten to overthrow her. Join Alexia Harmon as she works to fulfill her role as THE DEFENDER.

About the Author

Larissa Soehn is a budding new author from the cozy city of Red Deer, Alberta, where she lives with her husband, daughter, two cats and a dog. She started this journey as a recovery method for severe depression. She found that creative writing helped her process her emotions and work through the struggles of depression. As a child, Larissa enjoyed writing and telling stories, a passion that has recently reignited inside of her. Currently she is working to finalize the Gatlin Series, as well as publish a series of children’s books to help families discuss the importance of mental health, amongst other social issues facing children today. Larissa is an advocate for mental health and uses her personal experiences to help others work through their struggles. She uses social media platforms to help spread her message and give people permission to speak up and speak out.

Find the Author

WEBSITE – Larissa Soehn – Author Website
FACEBOOK – Larissa Soehn | Facebook
INSTAGRAM – Larissa Soehn (@larissa_soehn) • Instagram photos and videos

Buy the Book

AMAZON.COM – https://www.amazon.com/dp/0228866030
AMAZON.CA – https://www.amazon.ca/dp/0228866030
BARNES & NOBLE – https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-defender-larissa-soehn/1140523152?ean=2940165085475
SMASHWORDS – https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1115119
APPLE IBOOKS – https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-defender/id1595487361
The book will be free.

Yes, there is a giveaway

The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Enter here to win.

This post is part of a tour sponsored by Goddess Fish. Check out all the other tour stops. If you drop by each of these and comment, you will greatly increase your chances of winning.

 

My Favorite Excerpt

With Stellie’s last words still hanging in the air, the lights go out and Alex is slammed into darkness. Immediately, her mind begins to race, and she can feel the panic rising in her stomach, starting to choke her throat. Darkness has always been a weak point for her. It’s the moment where she is left alone with only her thoughts to keep her company. With a strangled feeling in her chest, she manages a breath, and then another.

The darkness stretches on for longer than Alex thought possible. There is no noise from the aliens in the crowd; there is only black. The darkness begins to press in on her as if she is being compressed, her breathing becomes more rapid, and she begins to feel sweat bead on her forehead. She can feel a panic attack coming on, something she frequently experiences, but they still have the ability to leave her paralyzed, unable to make decisions or do anything to help herself.

Breathe, Alex, just breathe, she says to herself. She crouches down to place her hands on the ground and puts her head between her knees. She can feel the ground beneath her vibrate lightly, but she knows enough not to trust her senses right now. Panic attacks allow her mind to play tricks on her, altering the way her surroundings look and feel, taking everything that is real and skewing it into something negative, something scary. Her steady breathing starts to return, and the panic attack is narrowly avoided. What is going on? Has something gone wrong with the test? Alex thinks to herself.

Just as the thought enters her mind, a very faint light starts to appear in the far corner of the room. She stares at the light, unsure if her mind is playing tricks on her. As she stares, the light grows brighter, illuminating one of the tables she saw when she first entered the room. With a curiosity that she cannot control, she moves to a standing position and starts to take a tentative step forward.

Some thoughts from the author

I got the chance to ask Larissa Soehn a question, so I asked her which character in The Defender most turns from a caterpillar into a butterfly and what makes their transformation special? Here is her answer …

Alexia Harmon is a troubled young woman. Her mind, riddled with anxiety and depression, plays against her, twisting and darkening her everyday thoughts and actions. Alex faces challenges that extend far beyond the typical housewife repertoire throughout her story. 

As the Galaxy of Gatlin continues to push against her, Alex finds herself forced to grow and change. Her challenges extend beyond the necessity to adapt; she must also remember who she is and where she came from. For Alex, family is everything. Forced to move through the paces of a foreign galaxy, she struggles to find herself as thoughts and memories of her family dance through her head.

Alex has a mantra, “You are strong, you are independent, and you are worthy.” Repeating her mantra, Alex steps through the trials of Gatlin and, with a bit of help, becomes a stronger person, both mentally and physically. With the help of sixth sense mental training from her newest alien friend, she learns to control her thoughts and still her busy mind. Watch Alex as she goes from a naive and mentally plagued into a true hero.

Thank you!

Larissa Soehn — we appreciate your sharing your book The Defender with us! Best of luck with sales, and with all of your future writing.