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Escape Forbidden
-- EXCERPT: “Sit,” Noelle said and gestured toward the cot positioned on the floor. Without much thought I wandered over and stretched out to lie down. Had it not been a trying day and with bombings outside, I’d have opted to go home or at the very least refused special treatment. That was what Noelle offered me, wasn’t it? “You don’t have to stay here all night,” I said. It felt weird to be watched as I slept. “If I need anything, I can let you know. Or I mean, whoever stays.” I didn’t want to assume she wouldn’t go home either. I shut my eyes and relaxed against the cot. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed I’d been in, but it beat the straw in the barn. “Toby and I will alternate, unless your fever breaks. Then we’ll both go home and let you sleep in peace.” Hearing her words was enough to help me relax. “Okay,” I mumbled. If only I had the ability to control my own body temperature. Noelle shut off the lights which helped ease the throbbing pulse behind my eyes. The distant wail of the siren ceased. Had it ended? Was everyone safe? I took momentary comfort in the quiet of Noelle’s office and allowed myself to fall asleep. During the night, I heard the door whine and I attempted to roll over, only half cognizant of where I was. The cot groaned beneath me and I felt the warmth of metal against my cheek. “Wake up, little girl,” an unfamiliar voice said, and I heard the distinctive click of the safety released from a gun. My eyes flashed open, staring up at the intruder, the gun tight against my skin. How would I get out of this mess? 
GIVEAWAY!
by Kody Boye Genre: YA Sci-fi/Dystopian Release date: April 3rd 2017 Summary: I was never afraid of monsters—at least, not until They came: the visitors from outer space. Now They're in our skies, on our streets, always watching, forever waiting. At seventeen, I'm just about to graduate from the Juvenile Education System and declare my career of choice. The Midnight Guard—who protect our community from the vicious things that lie outside our walls—calls to me. It’s hard, dangerous work, with grueling hours that offer little sleep, but it’s the one thing I know will help make a difference in our ever-changing world.  
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Excerpt
When They came, the story began, we thought They were our salvation. We thought They’d give us energy, heal our sick, solve world hunger. Instead, the story would continue, They didn’t. This was the point where I usually stopped listening—because, after hearing it one-hundred-thousand times over the past few years, it was never told any differently. The story never changed. The point was never made any clearer.
When They came, it should’ve began, They only had one thing on Their minds:
Our destruction.
Sadly, this was the story I had to listen to on my final day in the Juvenile Education System—when, after studying a generalized curriculum for several agonizing years, I would finally be emancipated and graduate into the Adult Work Force at the age of seventeen. It wasn’t my idea of a ‘final hurrah,’ but at least it beat a test.
“Ana Mia Sofia Berrios!†The teacher slapped the edge of my desk with his pointer stick hard enough to jar me out of my thoughts. “Pay attention!â€
I instinctively drew my hands away and set them in my lap without response. Mr. He merely nodded before pulling a projecting screen from the ceiling. “Now,†he continued, making sure to catch my eye as he turned to survey the room of twenty students. “We are all aware of the events that began on September 17th, 2024—when we finally established First Contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. What we couldn’t have anticipated was the fallout that would occur thereafter.â€
Mr. He rounded the stool the battery-projector lay upon. His eyes held a certain sadness. “It is my responsibility, as a senior educator of the Juvenile Education System, to relate to you one final time the dangers that exist outside the walls of Fort Hope.â€
His trembling fingers searched for the projector’s ON/OFF button as his eyes remained fixed on us.
He didn’t want to do it. That much was clear. He didn’t want to push that button and reveal to us the one thing that haunted our memories, our dreams, our every waking moment. But it didn’t matter. He had to do it. It was required—actually mandated—that we see the things that lay outside our walls. But for people like me—who’d happened to live through, survive, and still dreamed about it—I could already see it as his index finger pressed the button: lingering in the shadows, waiting for a moment to strike, watching, waiting, anticipating, breathing with only a wheeze as it lifted its hands to turn the doorknob and step right into my—
The projector came on.
I wanted to scream.
But somehow—someway—I managed to hold it in as its image filled the screen.
About the Author
Born and raised in Southeastern Idaho, Kody Boye began his writing career at fourteen with the publication of his story [A] Prom Queen’s Revenge in the Yellow Mama Webzine.
After being published nearly three-dozen times in various markets, he went independent at eighteen and currently writes horror and dark fantasy fiction.
He is the author of the young-adult science-fiction series When They Came, The Adventures of Carmen Delarosa, and the Scarlet Jane Files.
He currently lives and writes in the greater Dallas, Texas area.
Author Links:
Dimension Drift
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play -- EXCERPT: Nothing like waking up at the butt-crack of dawn to find your mother standing over your bed holding a thermos, moldy picture frame, and plastic bust of Albert Einstein. That wakes me up, fast. This whole thing is a shocker because for the last year, Mom’s been doing nothing but staring out the window, hoping my older sister, Luci, will come home. Such a disaster. Back in 2611, Luci ran off with her high school beau, Josiah, saying they wanted to start a new life somewhere that wasn’t Western New Massachusetts. For the record, I don’t blame my sister for leaving. Mom isn’t exactly the poster girl for stable parenting. And Josiah is a nice enough guy. You know, in the way that vanilla is a nice enough flavor. That said, Luci only left us a quick note on the kitchen table the day she took off. Since then, my sister hasn’t sent us any word. Mind you, this is the same Luci who couldn’t go six hours without talking to Mom. Now, twelve months go by without so much as a peep? That’s not Luci. Long story short, Mom and I are both pretty worried. We just show it in different ways. Mom holds up the bust of Einstein and stares at me wild-eyed. She doesn’t say anything, but that’s pretty typical. After Luci left, my mother’s routine has been pretty predictable. Bed to window. Window to bed. No talking. A little eating. Not much sleep. But now, Mom’s out of her chair with a vengeance. Plus, she’s even wearing one of her old lab coats from her researcher days. The frayed insignia of “United Americas” is still visible on her pocket protector. We’re not even supposed to know the name of the United Americas anymore, let alone save themed clothing. My high school teaches us that the only government that’s ever existed are the sickos in power today: the Righteous Command and Ultimate Authority. Mostly, we call them the Authority. So what’s Mom doing in her old lab coat? Tons of scenarios skitter through my head. Most of them end with Mom getting trucked off to a mediprison. The Authority strives for purity in all things. Any signs of what they call mental weakness, and the Authority declares you an enemy of the state, and you disappear. At this moment, the words total panic pretty much sum up my life. “What’s wrong, Mom? It’s four a.m.” 
GIVEAWAY!
The Phoenix Cycle: The Best Shall Rise
by Bob Collopy Genre: YA/Adult Dystopian Release Date: July 21st 2017 The Department of Smoke
Summary:
The Best Shall Rise New San Francisco is the last city standing on a world ravaged by storms of ash and debris. The city survived by putting the ideals of the American dream on steroids and inspiring its people to persevere, though they have become ruthless in the process. Its citizens are ruled by the General, who has made sure that his people understand that gentleness and pity have become weaknesses that nature no longer tolerates. Now Steve and Leslie must choose whether they will apply for the General’s once in a lifetime opportunity to “Rise from the Ashes” and join the Inner Circle that rules the city. If they don’t, they will be damned to spend the rest of their lives in the ghettos of Edingburg, a place where virtual reality has become a government-subsidized addiction. For Steve, the choice is easy. His loyalties lie with the IRA, a revolutionary army led by a voice only known as “Mom.” They are trying to overthrow the General and free the people of New San Francisco from the cruelties of the City Guard. Steve’s mission is to broadcast a recording of a speech that a famous philosopher died to tell. Many thousands have and will perish to get this message out, but is anyone willing to listen? About the Author: Bob Collopy was raised on southern values. A world of rigidity and blind faith. He was then moved to Sedona. A near cultlike world, grown from 1960's flower children. He was then moved to Scottsdale. A world of extreme wealth and vice. He then went to college and joined a fraternity so notorious it was on national and world news multiple times. Due to these shifts, Bob always found himself the the semilucid observer; constantly confused and adjusting to new and opposing sets of norms few cultures would ever call normal or even acceptable. The city Bob has created is a blending of these intense and opposing cultures and the people trying to survive and conquer them. 
Sea of Strangers
(The Ryogan Chronicles #2) By Erica Cameron Publication Date: December 5, 2017 Publisher: Entangled Teen 
Know your enemy if you want to survive…
The only way for Khya to get her brother back alive is to kill Varan—the immortal ruler who can’t be killed. But not even Varan knew what he was doing when he perverted magic and humanity to become immortal. Khya’s leading her group of friends and rebels into the mountains that hold Varan’s secrets, but if risking all their lives is going to be worth it, she has to give up everything else—breaking the spell that holds her brother captive and jeopardizing her deepening relationship with Tessen, the boy who has been by turns her rival and refuge since her brother disappeared. Immortality itself might be her only answer, but if that’s where Khya has to go, she can’t ask Tessen or her friends to follow.
Link to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33509083-sea-of-strangers Purchase Links: Amazon | Amazon Australia | Amazon UK | Amazon Canada | B&N | Kobo | iBooks
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AUTHOR INFO:
Erica Cameron is the author of books for young adults including the Ryogan Chronicles, the Assassins duology, and The Dream War Saga. She also co-authored the Laguna Tides novels with Lani Woodland. An advocate for asexuality and emotional abuse awareness, Erica has also worked with teens at a residential rehabilitation facility in her hometown of Fort Lauderdale. Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Goodreads
Guest Post
Every author has an agenda when they’re creating a book. Sometimes it’s as deceptively simple as “tell an entertaining story,” and sometimes it’s as gruelingly complex as “expose a dangerously vile aspect of modern society,” but it’s still an agenda. Often, there isn’t just one, and some authors have agendas or messages they thread through every book they write, even if they’re unconnected to each other. For me, that thread is asexuality. I grew up knowing I saw the world differently than everyone else, but not really understanding how deep that went. How could I understand that when I had no reflections of myself to help me? The first time I ever heard the term asexual was in biology class, and that was only in relation to the reproduction of amoebas. No one ever introduced me to asexuality as an orientation, and nothing I read or watched hinted at the possibility, either. I was raised in a liberal community, and I knew growing up that it was okay to want a relationship with anyone of any gender. There was never anyone who said it was okay to want no one. The lack left me stumbling through life trying to figure myself out by trial and error. It left me floundering in relationships because I couldn’t understand my own lack of desire. Asexuality is categorized by a lack of sexual attraction to other people regardless of gender, aesthetics, personality, or other characteristics. Like all other orientations, asexuality isn’t defined by the type or frequency of sex someone has but by their physical, sexual, and psychological attraction to another person. Someone who is asexual does not feel sexual attraction to anyone no matter what. Gray-asexuals very rarely do. Demisexuals may feel attraction to some people, but only after they form an emotional bond or attachment. It’s more complex than that, of course, but those are the basics. I go into more detail in the Queership column Coming Up Aces as well as in several essays posted on my blog. Proper representation can help the next generation avoid the uncertainty, confusion, and self-recrimination that I went through. This is why I put at least one asexual-spectrum character in each of my series and make a point of declaring their orientation on the page. If readers encounter the term and meet characters who fall somewhere on the spectrum, they’ll bring that awareness with them into their lives. Maybe it will resonate with them. Maybe the characters will remind them of a friend of theirs or a sibling. Maybe their basic understanding of asexuality won’t come into play at all until they meet someone later in their lives. Whatever the case, it is my hope that representation in fiction will cause a ripple effect that spreads a lot farther than the world of books, and that is why there is definitely one message you’ll find in all of my books: I am asexual, and we exist.
Giveaway
Sea of Strangers Prize Pack, including:** * A signed copy of Sea of Strangers * A $20 Visa gift card * A swag pack **For international: 1 copy from book depository and a $20 Visa gift card
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