about the book
Being an orphan stinks. Jax Aubrey’s mother died years ago, and a few days later his dad was killed in a car accident. His cousin Naomi and her husband opened their home to him and everything was cool until this tattooed red-haired dude barely out of high school shows up with an affidavit. Seems Jax’s father made Riley Pendare, a complete stranger, his guardian.
Ripped from his home town in Delaware, he finds himself living in a rundown dump in Pennsylvania. Distant and negligent, his guardian mostly lazes around the house watching TV with a rude free-loading friend. Riley never bothers to get groceries and forgets to pay the bills. Jax hates the clueless dude, the town, and his life. It sucks. Sucks! SUCKS!!!
The morning after he turns thirteen, Jax wakes to find the electricity turned off again and the refrigerator bare. Heading for the nearest store to get breakfast, he panics when he realizes all the streets are empty. Not a soul around except for Riley. Is it a zombie apocalypse? The next day, he wakes to find everything back to normal and no one seems the least fazed by the previous weird day. A week later, it happens again!
This time Riley explains. Long ago when King Arthur ruled, a curse was cast. While most people live the normal seven days a week, a few live eight. Grunsday is sandwiched between Wednesday and Thursday and it is a day filled with magic and powerful secrets. Jax and Riley belong to this second group and are known as transitioners. A rare few exist only on the eighth day. Evangeline belongs to this third group.
Normally the house next to Jax’s is home to sweet old Mrs. Unger. She believes she shares it with a ghost because every Grunsday, Evangeline exists there. A descendent of the wizard Merlin, this elusive girl holds the key to the curse. There are dangerous men conspiring to capture her and put an end to the seven day world. As descendents of the Knights of the Round Table, it is Riley’s…and now Jax’s…job to protect her.
If the others win, the human race will be destroyed. Let’s just say that Jax’s days have gotten far more complicated.
about the author
Dianne K. Salerni attended St. Mark’s High School in Wilmington, Delaware, earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from the University of Delaware and then a Masters in Language Arts Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She spent 25 years as a fourth and then fifth grade teacher in the Avon Grove School District.
Now, though, Dianne has become an author, and she loves it!
Along with her book and blog writing, Dianne spends a lot of time chauffeuring Gabrielle and Gina, her two daughters, around to all their school activities. She also spends time in spooky cemeteries and climbing up 2000 year-old pyramids. All for book research!
After writing her novel, The Eighth Day, she knows there really isn’t a secret Grunsday, but thinks it would be a good thing. Then she could stop blaming her husband, her teenage daughters, and their dog for all the food that keeps disappearing in their house!
Dianne found working on The Eighth Day very rewarding. It taught her to take risks with her writing. Her very favorite character is Riley. He actually invented himself and took control from page one. He was the one who decided he needed a motorcycle and tattoos!
Dianne loves to go skiing in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, which is the only sport she can do competently. Dianne lives with her husband Bob, her daughters, and their dog Sorcia in Chester County of Pennsylvania.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: HarperCollins
Author interview: Just Get It Written
Book trailer: The Eighth Day
Also by Dianne K. Salerni:
Morrigan’s Curse (Eighth Day, Book 3). Harper Collins. 2016.
The Inquisitor’s Mark (Eighth Day, Book 2). Harper Collins. 2015.
read more!
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What was promising to be a boring summer turns extraordinary when Henry, Emma, Roy, and Susan discover a magical wall in the middle of a corn field. All they have to do is think of a place with walls and they are transported anywhere in history and time. Taking turns, they each pick a different adventure—and learn a lot about quick thinking, friendship, being true to one’s self, and sticking together.
The Inquisitor’s Mark (Eighth Day, Book 2) by Dianne K. Salerni
After learning about the Eighth day, taking on the job of protecting Evangeline, and an all-out war, imagine Jax’s surprise when he discovers that he has quite a large family after all. There are uncles, cousins, and even grandparents who are more than happy to give this orphan a home. Unfortunately members of a corrupt clan want Jax’s guardian dead, Evangeline their prisoner, and all humanity destroyed; they will stop at nothing to get what they want.
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