I finally get to share the first 500 words from TIED,
and you all get a little peek inside Layla and Max’s world. 🙂
Ready?
Coming Sept 9, 2013
Coming Sept 9, 2013
This excerpt comes from the beginning of the book.
Chapter One.
EXCERPT:
My window opened easily. The same way it had so many times before. Climbing out on the ledge, I found the ground empty and dropped from the second floor—a jump I’d made a hundred times. In another life.
My feet sunk into the sand, and I followed the well-worn pathway through the dunes. Even the strong evening winds hadn’t misshaped the deep gully. The ocean’s breeze lashed at my hair as the moonlight glinted off the water’s surface. Seagulls flew up from their nesting grounds. They should have recognized me, since I’d been wandering at night for so long. Wrapping my arms around my knees to block the slight chill, I settled in the sand, and the birds quieted in a tight huddle, the wind blowing their feathers in awkward angles.
My gaze fell on a figure standing beyond the dunes edge, a shadow hidden within the darkness. My pulse quickened, but I didn’t move. Another trick—an illusion. Weary of the games my mind continued to play, I bit back tears and the catch in my throat. I should have been immune to them—the hallucinations—the way they haunted me and followed me, but I wasn’t.
Forcing myself to blink, I turned my head away. The visions had grown worse as I’d become older. I’d tried to convince myself they were nightmares—or weird dreams. Hoped for years they were, but only people who sleep dream.
Unable, or unwilling to stop myself, I glanced back over my shoulder, thoughts flooding my brain. Memories I knew couldn’t be memories but I cherished all the same. For years I’d tried to shake them away. To make myself forget.
I couldn’t.
#**#**#
A stone raps against my bedroom window. I creep over and peer through the blinds.
“You’re late.” I lean out over the sill, grinning at the boy staring up at me.
“Come on, let’s go before she comes,” he says.
I climb onto the window ledge. “Be nice. She’s my friend.”
“Okay. Jump.” He waves at me to go faster.
“Move, and I will.”
He takes one casual step to the side.
The jump isn’t too high; I make it all the time.
He grabs my hand when I land beside him in the soft sand. “Ready?”
I nod.
“One, two …”
“I’m going to tell!” Benny runs across my yard toward me, her blonde pigtails flapping in the wind. “You’re not allowed to talk to that boy, Layla! Your mom said!”
Max tightens his grip on my hand.
“Shut up, Benny! I’m old enough.”
“You’re only nine. Don’t go! “
“Three!” Max and I leave the ground.
“You’re going to get in so much trouble.” Benny’s yell rings in the distance.
Our feet touch down in the wet grass of the Otherworld, icy sea air whipping at my face.
“Hopefully, she won’t follow us again.” Max lets go of my hand.
“She won’t. I told her not to.” I lead the way down the cliff face to the ocean.
“She never listens to you.”
*************************
You can always add TIED to your Goodreads TBR list 😉
&
For more Information on the Fire Born Novels you can go to: J. Taylor Publishing
What if everything about life—everything anyone hoped to be, to do, to experience—never happens?
Whether sitting in a chair, driving down the road, in surgery, jumping off a cliff or flying … that’s where you’d be … forever.
Unless …
In One More Day, Erika Beebe, Marissa Halvorson, Kimberly Kay, J. Keller Ford, Danielle E. Shipley and Anna Simpson join L.S. Murphy to give us their twists, surprising us with answers to two big questions, all from the perspective of characters under the age of eighteen.
How do we restart time?
How do we make everything go back to normal?
The answers, in whatever the world—human, alien, medieval, fantasy or fairytale—could, maybe, happen today.
My time for reading has slowed quite a bit since all my effort is being focused toward writing the 2nd book in the Fire Born Novels, TORN. So, I am moving on, slowly, with the second book in the Infernal Devices series, CLOCKWORK PRINCE by Cassandra Clare.
Blurb:
In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when it becomes clear that the mysterious Magister will stop at nothing to use Tessa’s powers for his own dark ends.
With the help of the handsome, tortured Will and the devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister’s war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal and fueled by revenge. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister knows their every move—and that one of their own has betrayed them.
Tessa is drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa answers about who she really is? As their search leads to deadly peril, Tessa learns that secrets and lies can corrupt even the purest heart.
So it’s been a while—too long actually, since I last posted about my progress with TIED. BUT … with incredibly good reason—writing takes time. Tons of it. And editing—takes even more.
TIED has officially been sent off to copy editing land and is out of my hands. So, my publisher will be allowing me to share more tidbits of what’s to come very soon.
For example, I will be having a TIED Bookmark Giveaway in the coming days, and excerpts as well as other exciting stuff will follow.
September 9 is coming, and I can’t wait to share Layla and Max’s world with everyone. 😉
March, for me, has been an awesome reading month. I’m crazy late, but I finally started The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. And when I say started, I really mean finished– the whole series. Except of course The City of Heavenly Fire — not due out until March ‘014 ;(
This is one of the best series of books I’ve read in a really, really long time, and I can’t believe I’m just now getting around to it. So — here are some covers of the series to drool over, and if you’re a YA fan who hasn’t read these books — do yourself a favor. Jace might be one of the best male characters I’ve ever read. Ever. Yeah, that good.
(couldn’t get a good pic of City of Lost Souls but that cover is a beauty too.)
City of Bones (Mortal Instruments) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
City of Ashes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
City of Glass (Mortal Instruments) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
We’re taking up the Tuesday spot this week having showcased Terri Rochenski’s cover reveal for Eye of the Soul yesterday. Check it out if you missed it.
Onto week 26 already–closer and closer to the book release date of TIED. Up next on the playlist, M83.
Finishing off last week with the final installment of Lauren Kate’s Fallen series, RAPTURE, I am moving onto Michael Scott‘s final book in the Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, The Enchantress.
I have loved this series from the beginning and am both excited and sad to see it end.
English: The cover for the book The Enchantress written by Michael Scott, design by Michael Wagner published by Random House (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
BLURB:
The two that are one must become the one that is all. One to save the world, one to destroy it.
San Francisco:
Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel have one day left to live, and one job left to do. They must defend San Francisco. The monsters gathered on Alcatraz Island have been released and are heading toward the city. If they are not stopped, they will destroy everyone and everything in their path.
But even with the help of two of the greatest warriors from history and myth, will the Sorceress and the legendary Alchemyst be able to defend the city? Or is it the beginning of the end of the human race?
Danu Talis:
Sophie and Josh Newman traveled ten thousand years into the past to Danu Talis when they followed Dr. John Dee and Virginia Dare. And it’s on this legendary island that the battle for the world begins and ends.
Scathach, Prometheus, Palamedes, Shakespeare, Saint-Germain, and Joan of Arc are also on the island. And no one is sure what—or who—the twins will be fighting for.
Today the battle for Danu Talis will be won or lost.
But will the twins of legend stand together?
Or will they stand apart—
one to save the world and one to destroy it?
This week on Road Trip Wednesday, YA Highway asks the question:
What’s the best book you’ve read in February?
Hm … All of the books I’ve read in the month of February were great. I started off the month with Suzanne Collin’s THE HUNGER GAMES series, finished Lauren Kate’s FALLEN series with RAPTURE, read The 19th Year series, AFTER DARK and the sequel, DAY AFTER by Emi Gayle–both awesome–and I rounded out the month with Michael Scott’s final book in The Secrets of The Immortal Nicholas Flamel series, THE ENCHANTRESS. Lucky for me, my line edits haven’t begun on TIED, so I’ve had more free time to read everyone else’s stuff for a change.
There were two books I gave 5 Stars to in February — well, one book actually and one series of books.
THE HUNGER GAMES series by Suzanne Collins was truly an incredible, pull-you-in-and-refuse-to-let-you-go story, and for that reason, it was my favorite series for the month of February.
BUT … DAY AFTER by Emi Gayle, was my favorite book for the month.
Both of these reads, although YA, are completely different and therefore can’t really be compared against each other. Dystopian vs Urban Fantasy. I am, and have always been, the biggest fantasy fan, and DAY AFTER delivered for me in that category. It’s not due for official release until May, though, and you’ll have to read AFTER DARK first, too! 😉
Normal people don’t believe their nightmares stalk them. They don’t fall in love with boys who don’t exist, either.
Seventeen-year-old Layla Labelle, though, is far from normal. Her delusions walk the earth. Her hallucinations hunt her, and her skin heats to a burn every time her anger flares.
Or is that all in her head?
Layla doesn’t know what to believe any more because if none of that’s true, Max MacLarnon must be an illusion, and her heart must still be broken.
No matter how much she wants to believe Max is real, doing so would mean everything else is, too. How, then, is that possible?
The answers lie in an age-old legend the supernatural aren’t prepared to reveal, and with a curse that could tear Layla and Max apart forever—if it doesn’t kill them both first.
In TIED, book one in the Fire Born trilogy, learning the truth will mean fighting an arsenal of demons, and being with Max will put Layla on a path toward her own destruction.
Just how far will Layla go to protect the one she loves?
In this weeks YA world, I am finally sinking my teeth back into the last of Lauren Kate’sFallen series, Rapture.
BLURB:The sky is dark with wings. . . .
Like sand through an hourglass, time is running out for Luce and Daniel. To stop Lucifer from erasing the past, they must find the place where the angels fell to earth.
Dark forces are after them, and Daniel doesn’t know if he can do this—live only to lose Luce again and again. Yet together they face an epic battle that will end with lifeless bodies . . . and angel dust. Great sacrifices are made. Hearts are destroyed.
And suddenly Luce knows what must happen. For she was meant to be with someone other than Daniel. The curse they’ve borne has always and only been about her—and the love she cast aside. The choice she makes now is the only one that truly matters. In the fight for Luce, who will win?
The astonishing conclusion to the FALLEN series. Heaven can’t wait any longer.
I was planning to continue onto the last of Lauren Kate’s FALLEN series this week and end with her 4th and final book, RAPTURE, but then I got a really great surprise, so I’ll be pushing it back to next week’s read.
AFTER DARK was my book of choice last week (which I read, like practically everything, in about a day), and the release for the sequel DAY AFTER isn’t until May, so I was a little bummed to wait–until I got my ARC!! Ha! One of the best perks in my opinion as an author. So, without further ado (and sorry you guys have to wait until May for this awesome book–it’s worth the wait, though), I will be happily moving onto DAY AFTER, the 2nd book in The 19th Year series by Emi Gayle!
Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.
Or so Winn Thomas always thought.
Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school.
Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right?
In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.
Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.
He intends to have her pick human.
Whether she can or not.
***I flew through this incredible book and rated it 5 Stars. Fantastic read!
“No, I don’t think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That’s what’s wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how.”
This week on the TIED Countdown we’re listening to another playlist track from the first book in The Fire Born Novels trilogy. (again in random order from the official playlist to be posted Sept 9th.) Enjoy!
After finishing The Hunger Games in an almost obsessed sort of sprint to the end, I’m on to another YA series, The 19th Year. When I wrap my head around the Hunger Games and formulate my words for a review, I’ll post them over on goodreads.
Now: AFTER DARK, book one of The 19th Year, by Emi Gayle
BLURB:
What eighteen year old Mac Thorne doesn’t know will probably kill her.
In exactly eight months, five days, three hours and thirteen minutes, Mac has to choose what she’ll be for the rest of her life.
She has no choice but to pick. As a Changeling, it’s her birthright. To Mac, it’s a birthchore. Like going to school with humans, interacting with humans, and pretending to be human during the pesky daylight hours.
Once darkness descends, Mac can change into any supernatural form that exists — which makes her as happy as she can be. That is, until Winn Thomas, the biggest geek in her senior class, figures out there’s more to what hides in the dark than most are willing to acknowledge.
In this first of the 19th Year Trilogy, Winn might know more about Mac than even she does, and that knowledge could end their lives, unless Mac ensures the powers-that-be have no choice but to keep him around.
I know, I know. It’s been foreverrr since I posted a new My Music Monday, so we begin again. 😉
This week I’ve been painstakingly compiling, and scaling down, the massive playlist for TIED, book one of The Fire Born Novels. Originally this playlist had close to 50 songs. I’ve narrowed it down to 34. Since I have 32 weeks until the launch of TIED, I thought a teaser was in order to get the momentum started. So … I’m going to play a small sampling of what’s to come every Monday all the way up to launch day. I’ve decided not to put the songs in order of scenes/chapters, as I don’t want to give too much away, but the songs will be in order when the playlist goes live, and in full, on the 9th of September. ENJOY!
Here’s how the THE NEXT BIG THING blog hop works. I get tagged to answer a bunch of question about my current book, (while simulataneously getting more word out), thanks to J.A. Belfield for the tip, and then I tag YOU, and you get to share in the love on your own blog to get the word out about YOUR WIP.
I’m supposed to tag eleven bloggers, but I’m cheating a little and tagging all of you who have WIP’s to play. Why? Because there are a lot of you. Yay me.
I questioned being involved in the hop considering my current WIP is kind of under wraps, while my current finished book is on its way to publication–but, I thought this would be fun.
SO …. I’m going to pretend that my current finished novel is actually a WIP–even though it’s not. K? K! 😉
Here goes:
What is the working title of your book?
The title of my book is TIED, and it’s the first book in The Fire Born Novels series.
Where did the idea come from for the book?
This is one of those questions that’s hard to answer. Ideas sort of pop into my head and I run with them. Some work, some don’t–The Fire Born worked.
What is the genre of your book?
I write young adult dark/urban fantasy, paranormal romance, with bit of mythology mixed in.
Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
No clue. If I had to choose, it would probably be from people who aren’t even actors. 😉 I think it’s really hard to peg the right face/personality to a character you’ve dreamed up in your head.
What in one sentence is the synopsis of your book?
Yikes! Honestly, I don’t even think I’m allowed to tell you guys that yet—-under contract and all that. BUT–soon, so very soon.;) So, I’ll leave you with the hook that’s flying around on all my social media pages:
How far would you go … to protect the one you love?
Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency/publisher?
All of The Fire Born Novels will be published by J. Taylor Publishing.
How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
Hm … first draft took three months. All subsequent drafts took — forever. Seriously. A longgg time.
What other books would you compare this story to in your genre?
I wouldn’t. Funny–I was just thinking about this. My play off fantasy and paranormal feels a bit different than what I read–and I read a lot. I guess the readers will have to decide ultimately. But, my intention is always to speak from my own voice and let it roll. Whatever comes, comes. I’m not aiming to compare my books to anyone else’s.
Who or what inspired you to write this book?
Another loaded question that’s difficult to answer. I’m not sure that any one particular thing inspired me, necessarily. A ton of factors led me to continue to write this book and see it through to the end. Not all my novels have made it to completion. TIED spoke to me in a way nothing else has. So I guess you could say, the story itself inspired me.
What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
The blurb will be out very soon, and I can’t spoil that, so I’ll just say that if the hook I mentioned before intrigues you–just wait 😉
*** That’s it for me. Anyone want to jump in and let us know what all your blood, sweat and tears are pouring into? Leave me a link so I can check your book out!! 😉 ***