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amybraunauthor

Literary Braun

Sunday Snippet: “You haven’t been gone for a few hours.”

 

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors, the weekly blog hop that lets new/indie authors share 8-10 words of their current work. I'm hyped up on leftover ice cream cake from my birthday to give me the final boost I need to wrap up my writing chores for the night. I'm still sticking with snippets from the opening chapters of my upcoming standalone novel Storm Born. The snippet from last week had main character Ava reeling from the shock of the devastation left by the Centennial, but that's not the only shock that Ava will be enduring when she finds her family, who were prepared to declare her missing...

 

“You were going to declare me missing? After a few hours?”

Mom froze. Then her jaw began to droop, her eyes bulging. James had a similar expression on his little round face.

“Ava,” my Dad said. “You haven’t been gone for a few hours.”

I looked at him, alarmed by the confused, scared look in his eyes. A look I’d never seen my father wear.

I understood why when he said, “You’ve been gone for a week.”

 

***

 

 

A single night can change your life… for the worst.


It’s been a century since the last Centennial Storm, the calamitous phenomenon that covered the world in disasters– tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, and dust storms– caused not by nature, but by alien creatures from another realm. The Stormkind.

Ava Reid tries not to think about that night, when she was caught in a hurricane and brought face to face with one of the Stormkind, the man with a dagger, and the agony she felt when he stabbed her with a crystal blade. Yet as she and the rest of Florida’s citizens begin to rebuild their lives, Ava can’t help but notice strange things happening around her. Things she seems to be causing. The gusts of wind and sudden floods attract the attentions of a mysterious stranger who leaves her clues, and the deadlier men following her.

It isn’t long before Ava is swept up into a wild conspiracy, led by a secret society that knows the truth about the Stormkind– and what their enemies have planned for the world she loves. If she wishes to protect her friends and her family, Ava must harness her strange new abilities and become part of the Stormkind society. Because if she loses control, there will be no force strong enough to stop her…

 

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***

 

In other news, I'm happy to announce that I finally finished the rough draft for Storm of the Gods. Hence another reason to celebrate with ice cream cake at 11:30pm. I've still got to come up with a synopsis and do some of the larger edits this week, but here's a question for any experienced Warriors coming across the blog: Do you recommend Beta reading before submitting the story to publishers? If so, is anyone interested in reading an urban fantasy novel about the Greek gods and how society would react if we learned that some of us were descended from them? I appreciate any and all advice, and if you're interested in Beta reading, shoot me an email at amybraunauthor (at) gmail (dot) com so we can talk details/swaps.

 

Next week I'll be focusing on the edits for Storm of the Gods and planning another series, Agents of Limbo. I've got some promotions to set up for Storm Born as well, though I'd like to get Storm of the Gods out and on its way to publishers before I get caught up in the other releases I have planned for this year. Seriously, I have way too much to do, and nowhere near enough time– or chocolate!

 

Be sure to stop by the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and leave the authors some love in the comments. Until next time!

 

Amy