This book event promotion is through Silver Dagger Book Tours.
First Light book tour includes a giveaway. Enter to win below, share, comment, and subscribe to Sarandipity’s.
Book Details
A promise filled with hope in a world not meant for dreamers
First Light
Tales of the Vanguard: Rune Saga Book 1
by Verity Rose
Genre: Epic Fantasy
In a world struggling with political and religious differences, eighteen-year-old Arkrune—”Rune”
to his friends—dreams of something greater than the quiet life in his small village of Locke.
Trained by his stern but loving father, a renowned blacksmith and former warrior, Rune sets his
sights on joining the famous monster fighting guild known as the Vanguard.
When Rune embarks on his journey to the city of Hilden to pursue his destiny, he carries with
him more than just a finely crafted sword—but also a mystery tied to his bloodline and the
dormant power within him. Along the way, Rune forms bonds with battle-hardened warriors,
fends off deadly attacks by monsters and men alike, and begins to uncover the hidden
strengths he didn’t know he possessed.
New Release – Oct 25!
Book Links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/47a1C1J
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/first-light-verity-
rose/1147911457?ean=2940181775749
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/first-light-58?
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/first-light-tales-of-the-vanguard-rune-saga-
book-1-by-verity-rose
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239309987-first-light
About the Author
Verity Rose grew up in a blink and you’ll miss it Indiana town where the school library doubled
as an escape hatch. She wrote her first fantasy scenes at thirteen, lost the thread for a while,
wrestling with undiagnosed ADHD and mental health potholes. She rediscovered her voice after
becoming a mom and stumbling into a gaggle of online book nerds who egged her on. Armed
with a social work degree from Ball State and a lifelong conviction that characters are as real as
the hands on the keyboard, she now pours that people first empathy into stories that refuse to
stay quiet.
When she isn’t tormenting her characters, Verity is probably reverse engineering a Korean
street food recipe, sourcing single origin coffee beans from ethical roasters, or hoarding trash in
Dragon Age or Skyrim. Her literary inspiration is equal parts Rick Riordan’s mythic swagger,
Suzanne Collins’ high stakes heart, and John Flanagan’s cozy camaraderie.
Verity was raising her family (and her caffeine tolerance) amid Indiana cornfields and now
adventures in the Pacific Northwest with them. She’s always down to swap book recs, coffee
tips, or preferred RPG builds.
Author Links
Website: https://vrosefantasy.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Verity-Rose-Fantasy-Author-61574899375272
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/veerozeauthor
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/verityroze.bsky.social
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Verity-Rose/author/B0FK31VFQQ
Author Interview Guest Post
What inspired you to write this book?
I got back into reading again after years of not reading for enjoyment. I started
with a lot of online web novels and moved on to a bunch of other books and light
novels. After a while, I eventually got an itch to write again after years of having
nothing to do with it. I found one of my old stories (self-insert cringe-filled ones). I
removed all the self-insert, all the plot, and almost all the characters and kept the
magic system and created a whole new story. Fun fact, one of the characters
from First Light stayed as well (though with many changes) and it will be fun to
see his story play out as I continue the series!
What can we expect from you in the future?
More books in Tales of the Vanguard for sure. Rune’s saga will be three to five
books long, and I want Vanguard to be a whole universe with other books; side
stories, prequels, sequels, and unrelated stories all set in the same world. I also
have another project in another world I am working on that just finished up its first
beta read that will deal with PTSD, LGBTQ+ themes, and the cost of power. They
should all be fun!
Do you have any “side stories” about the characters?
For those who sign up for my newsletter, they will receive a short two-chapter
prequel to the story of one of the side characters named Venraya!
A lot of my ARC and Beta readers fell in love with a number of side characters
and the most popular one has been Rune’s(MC) dad, Vickar. So I will be writing a
standalone book about his story at some point!
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in First Light?
Happily!
Rune is our main character! His birth name is Arkrune, so named for an in-
universe legendary hero. He takes on the nickname of Rune for the purposes of
our story after being given it by his childhood friend Tara. He has hopes for the
future of being a famous adventurer as a member of the Vanguard. Rune is kind,
compassionate, and a touch dense. He also struggles with decision making on
his own, kind of meandering through the story, unsure how to really complete his
goals outside of what other people tell him to do.
Tayven is a side character who is a friend of Rune and a foil to him of sorts. He
also wants to join the Vanguard and be a powerful warrior. Unlike Rune, he
knows he is going to do this by the use of his sword and through Aura (this
world’s magic). Tayven has goals, and a drive to step forward by making allies on
purpose with intent to grow.
Venraya is another side character who is a bit abrasive to most at first. She’s
quick to warm up to some and slow for others. She knows she wants to be a
strong fighter like her parents, but is trying to find out how to do that and looks to
a party member of her mom’s group as a mentor.
Where did you come up with the names in the story?
I have a number of friends who like to write who have asked me that… and the
answer is that I really don’t know! They just kind of pop in my head randomly.
Usually I figure out a personality and then a name just pops up after that (for a
character). Similar for the names of places. I think about the description of a
place, kingdom, or entity, and then a name just kinda pops into my head.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
Diving into another world and taking the characters I created and giving them
life… It was all so thrilling. The idea that someone else would end up reading this
eventually was just as exciting, albeit equally terrifying.
Who designed your book covers?
Miblart.
Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
Find a way to plan or track your writing that works for you. I am a pantser by
nature. Planning and plotting with a plot line and all that breaks my brain and I
just can’t do it. Instead, I write now using Novelcrafter. I don’t use the AI features,
but I LOVE the codex part because it makes it easy for me to come up with
people, places, and things on the fly, then immediately add them to my codex
notes for me to remember later. Then if I type the name, I get a little hover box
that tells me all my notes I made about them. It’s great. I also did find a way to
plot that allows me to prepare a little bit by creating guide posts instead of a
complex diagram called the Five Sentence outline. I love using that.
If you could spend time with a character from your book, who would it be? And
what would you do during that day?
Brick, absolutely. I need his emotional support and no-nonsense attitude. He has
a way of telling you what you did wrong without being mean about it and I feel
like that would be very helpful for me. Is it bad to use your own characters for
therapy? Probably.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your
imagination?
In the original inspiration of this book, almost all the characters were
inspired/sometimes named after people I knew. However, in this book, they are
all completely original. None of these characters are people I know, though some
may have slight similarities, there is no one in my book that I can point to and be
like “That is absolutely Jane from the coffee shop”.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
Yep! I have another project I’m working on in a different series, and of course the
sequel to First Light!
Is there a writer which brain you would love to pick for advice? Who would that
be and why?
I would love to just sit and talk to Rick Riordan. His book series The Lightning
Thief is what originally got me into both writing and reading as a kid, so talking
with him would be insanely cool. As far as a more recent author, I don’t think
there are any. I have done a lot of networking with some other authors who write
a lot of Kindle Unlimited books I read, so if I want to talk to one, I usually just go
and do that. They are usually a lot easier to reach than the big names.
‘Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?’-type tidbits about the author, the
book or the writing process of the book.
The final title for the book didn’t come into being until after like the 3rd beta read
There were way too many beta reads of this thing! Literally like six or
more, it was insane. Note to others: don’t do that, if you can avoid it.
I wrote the first seven chapters of book one of a sequel series to Rune’s saga
before I wrote First Light. Those seven chapters will eventually come out in the
series set after Rune’s story is over.
My wife is obsessed with a character named Lylah who is… interesting. I mean
she’s a good character, but I find it fun that Lylah is her favorite because she is
so not who my wife is or hangs out with in real life!
Giveaway
Digitally Signed Special Ebook Copy,
$20 Amazon or Paypal
– 1 winner each!
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
https://sdbook.promo/FirstLight
First Light Schedule
Oct 10
Kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Boys’ Mom Reads!
Oct 12
The Book Junkie Reads . . .
Oct 13
Sybrina’s Book Blog – GUEST POST
Books1987
Oct 14
The Library of Erana – GUEST POST
What Is That Book About
Oct 15
Anna del C. Dye
Renee’s Ruminations
Oct 16
Author Sahara Foley
Sarandipity’s – GUEST POST
Oct 17
The Dungeon Crawlers – GUEST POST
Haley Cavanagh Books
Oct 20
Watch Us Sparkle Blog
Book Review Virginia Lee Blog
Oct 21
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree
Books all things paranormal and romance
Oct 22
Sandra’s Book Club
C.A.Milson
Oct 23
Chapters Through Life
Country Mamas With Kids
Oct 24
Tina Donahue Books – Heat with Heart
Girl with Pen
Oct 26
Jody’s Bookish Haven
Oct 27
Inside the Insanity – GUEST POST
My beauty my books
Oct 28
Sharon Buchbinder Blog Spot
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’
Oct 29
Webs and Blogs For Writers
The Book Dragon
Oct 30
Insane Books
The Bookshelf Fairy
Oct 31
Bedazzled By Books
Scrupulous Dreams
Nov 2
Book Crazy
Nov 3
Twisted Book Ramblings
Painting With Words
Nov 4
The Scratching Post
Nov 5
Wibell’s Worlds
Royally Insane Books
Nov 6
Ellwyn’s Blog
Book Bites….with a side of coffee
Nov 7
Craving Lovely Books
Queen of Randomness
Nov 8
I Smell Sheep
Nov 10
Midnight Book Reader
Trixie Reports Books
