Short Story Anthology to Benefit Cancer Research!!

Hi everyone!! As I hinted to a few weeks back, I've got some details about the super-secret project I've been working on!!

First and foremost: the name.

FURTHERMORE

Why? You may ask. Well this name has a cool double meaning. The first, each author involved in this anthology provides a further look into their series. Perhaps it's a short story told from a different POV. Maybe it's an extra scene. Whatever the case, you're given a new glimpse into their world. And second, 100% of proceeds will go to further more cancer research. It's as simple as that. After our release on December 11th, all proceeds from paperback, kindle, nook, and any other digital formats will be donated to the American Cancer Society. I'm so thankful I have a chance to be a part of such a great cause, through something as enjoyable as sharing a bit more of my writing with you. So with further ado, we'd love for you to get involved. The form below provides additional details on how you can help us kick cancer's ass.

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Meet the authors of FURTHERMORE  

Rebekah Campbell  All in a Day's Work (As part of the Darkness Through the Light

series) Surprise Visitor

While it seems as though everything is crumbling around her, Emily can still see glimmers of light. One particular glimmer takes the form of her hot best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Eric Baker. Unfortunately, Emily’s suspension from school leaves her with a lot of time to fill. What she doesn’t realise is that today is about to fill up quite nicely.

Getting to Know the Heavies 

Normally, you will find the two Sullivan bodyguards running errands for their intimidating employer, leaving destruction and pain in their wake. But Miles and Tai are still human beings underneath it all. And everyone has a weakness.

People Change

Dennis Baker has spent the last thirteen years trying to raise his son the best way that he can. When Eric asks him a question about his mother, it’s time to go back to where it all began and then went so badly wrong.

David Estes

The Runaway - Tawni's Story (As part of The Dwellers Saga)

In The Moon Dwellers, Adele befriended an upbeat and unusual girl named Tawni, whose life was inexplicably linked to hers in ways she has only begun to understand. Wrongfully confined to a juvenile prison—the Pen—together, they began a journey of hope, friendship, and family that would change them both forever. But what happened to Tawni before being sent to the Pen? How did she end up in such an awful place? And why did she run from a life of privilege and luxury? Find out in the short story, The Runaway - Tawni’s Story.

The Life Lottery - A Story from Year Zero

(As part of The Dwellers Saga)

Before the creation of the Tri-Realms, and before there were moon dwellers, the inhabitants of the earth lived in relative safety. But then a massive meteor locked on a collision course with our planet. U.S. scientists had predicted it for years, using a substantial government-funded budget to carry out their contingency plan—a series of extraordinary caves and tunnels deep below the surface of the earth. Despite their efforts, however, when the harbinger of Armageddon arrived, there wasn’t enough room for every U.S. citizen. Not nearly enough, in fact. A mere one percent of the population would be able to enter the hidden sanctuaries and start a new life. Who would be chosen? Who would be left to die above? No one could predict the outcome of The Lottery.

Amber Garr

Cold Feet & Rift  (As part of The Syrenka series)

Eviana and her friends live in a hidden world at the precipice of civil war. Their powers are new, their responsibilities daunting. Forced to decide the fate of their kind, a decision made in haste will have lasting repercussions. When Eviana chooses to run away from it all, she hurts those who love her most, especially her fiancé.  Ever wonder how Kain felt on their wedding day? Or how the return trip to California tested the bounds of Eviana’s relationship with her friends? In Cold Feet, Kain witnesses Eviana’s deceit and is forced to deal with the consequences of her behavior. In Rift, Daniel encourages the group to make a detour to the Grand Canyon, as the distance between the friends begins to rival the great ravine.

Discovery & Human Resources (As part of The Leila Marx Novels)

Leila is different. Her touch clairvoyant abilities set her apart from most, but she’ll soon learn that she is not alone. When exploring the psychic community of her new city, she meets Terez. A true clairvoyant in every sense of the word, Terez quickly recognizes Leila’s talents. In Discovery, Leila’s first encounter with her mentor is nothing short of memorable. Excited to be an entrepreneur, Mac overestimates his ability to hire an employee. Tired of interviewing humans, he uses his fae powers to keep himself entertained. That is, until Blake walks through the door. Reminding him of his past, Mac is thrilled to find one of his own. In Human Resources, Blake finds a new job while Mac finds a new friend.

Karen Amanda Hooper The Sound of Love (As part of The Kindrily Series)

Glimpse into one of Nathaniel’s previous lives and see how his soul mate reacts when tragedy strikes.

Stephanie Judice

Rapture (As part of the Saga of the Setti series)

Muirne's Melody

1352 A.D. — Muirne is a slave in the land of Icelandic barbarians. Captured from her Celtic clan, she now serves in the home of Torvald—watchful and silent. On this night’s gathering, her angelic voice and beauty entrances everyone, especially her master. Torvald’s desire sets her on a path toward her true destiny, one that will bind her to a green-eyed stranger and a perilous future. As a dark evil approaches, Muirne is given the power of a Sounder, the first one to ever walk the earth.

Jeremy's Heart  

Present Day — Jeremy is the cocky, confident Sounder of Homer’s clan. Nothing can touch Jeremy, or so they think. Behind the suave, swaggering exterior, there are fractures threatening to pull him apart. The lack of love as a child, the loss of a dear friend, and the unknown future loom before him as the Setti prepare for the next battle with the Reapers. The last thing he expected at this point in his life was... love.

Fall from Grace

Near Future—Svegja was once a Setti, having lost the right to call himself a soldier of light. He walks in the dark, accepting its cold embrace. For over a millennium, he has been content with his loss, with his lot, but meeting the Guardian Clara has changed things. She reminds him of himself before the change, before the darkness. Recognizing this aching feeling inside, he does not want to go on alone. He longs for a future where he no longer bends his knee to the King of Beasts, Bolverk. He wants the crown for himself. Now he must plan to win Clara’s obedience by persuasion or by force.

Leigh Michael

Fate (As part of Annabelle's Story)

Annabelle Walsh thought she had it all. She was living every girl’s dream – until her life was turned upside down. All starting with finding out that she's not just a human, but also a water spirit. Half-human, half-sprite to be exact. Although not just any sprite, Annabelle is prophesied to be the only one who can save both the sprites and mankind.

Annabelle’s Story is a two-part tale that chronicles Annabelle’s mission to fulfill her fate. Through Annabelle’s first person prose, we’re given an inside look into her fears, her hesitation, her disbelief, her courage, her hopes, and ultimately her dreams.

But what about the other characters that bring Annabelle’s Story to life? Each character whose destiny becomes a reality upon setting eyes on Annabelle? Fate retells this beloved story through the thoughts of Adrian, Aurelia, Blake, and Katherine. These are their parting words.

Mayandree Michel

Happy Anniversary, Adele!

Today, October 20^th, is a very special day for my wife and I. It’s our 2-year wedding anniversary!! It’s hard to believe that 2 years ago today, Adele and I got hitched on a little island in Malaysia called Langkawi. The wedding was so absolutely perfect, that it’s hard to believe that every day since has been better than the last.

Adele, I want you to know how much I love you, so I thought I’d do a top 10 countdown of the things I love most about you! I want everyone, including my readers, to know just how special and inspiring you are.

10. Your creativity. You always sell yourself short in this area, but I’ve seen how creative you are, particularly in the photographs you take. You see the world in a way that most people don’t. I’m in awe of some of the things you notice and appreciate, which I would never be able to see myself.

9. The way you live life. You believe in getting the most out of life and chasing after the things that really matter, like dreams and goals and friendship and love. You’ve helped me to do this too.

8. Your smarts. There’s a reason I call you the Mentalist. You always figure out who the killer is first, who’s having an affair with whom, and who is getting framed. Yes, it makes watching crime shows and mysteries difficult, but it’s worth it to see the clever way your mind works. It’s also useful when I’m struggling through the complexities of a plotline in one of my books!

7. Your commitment. Ours was a whirlwind romance that started with a chance meeting and a kiss. Three months later we were engaged and six months after that, married. Your extraordinary level of trust and commitment means the world to me.

6. The way you push me to live my dreams. If not for you, I wouldn’t be a fulltime writer. You encouraged me from the very beginning, helped me get started, and have then supported me every step of the way. You’ve helped me shrug off the bad reviews, enjoy the good reviews, and celebrate the successes. The last two years would have meant so much less without you by my side.

5. The way you love me. Adele, everything about the way you love me fills my heart to overflowing. The romance, your words and compliments, your unending pride for my accomplishments, your gentle touch: it’s all perfect.

4. Your love for animals. You are so gentle and kind to animals, it’s contagious. Seeing you with them is seeing you completely alive. I’ve never met someone who walks down the street and has cats or dogs running out from behind houses to meet them! And then they try to follow you home!

3. Your sense of humor. You make me laugh more than anyone I’ve ever met! In you, I’ve met my match when it comes to silliness, which is beyond impressive ;) And, obviously, you laugh at my jokes, too!

2. Your face. I was about to say ‘your smile’, but then I thought about it and realized that it’s more than just your smile that warms me up inside when I look at you. It’s your whole face. Your smile is contagious and adorable and impossible for me to take my eyes off of. Your big, brown eyes are so full of life, sparkling with energy, and I see my whole life in them. Your sweet cheeks lift slightly when you’re happy or excited. Your cute, little nose that fits in so well with everything else. To me, your face is perfect, and when I look at you it takes my breath away.

1. Your good heart. You take it as a personal mission to not hurt other people in any way. You always worry about other’s feelings, and care deeply for the happiness of others. If I am ever feeling down, you pick me up and help me forget what caused my depressed feelings in the first place.

Adele, I’m a lucky man for a lot of reasons, but you are the most important one. To have found you almost feels like my own personal, modern day fairy tale. I promise to stay by your side always, to love you as much as you love me, and to help you achieve your dreams the same way that you always do for me. I love you with all my heart, might, mind and soul. Happy anniversary, my lovely Adele, it’s the second of many.

The Next Big Thing!

I’ve been tagged by author Stephanie Judice (Rising, Book 1 of the Setti Saga!) to share some information about my current projects. Mostly, I’m just going to use it as yet another opportunity to be weird.

What is the working title of your next book?

The Sun Dwellers!!! It’s the third book in the Dwellers Saga (Book 1- The Moon Dwellers, Book 2- The Star Dwellers). OK, something weird about my titles: none of my books take place on the moon, the stars or the sun! In fact, my characters can’t even see the moon, stars or sun, because they all live underground on earth. Weird, right? So why did I pick such ridiculous titles that make no sense you might ask? Well, the characters in my books live in a place called the Tri-Realms, which is split up into the Sun Realm (upper class), the Moon Realm (middle class), and the Star Realm (lower class). Hence the titles.

If you want to learn more about the crazy and dark world I’ve created, check out my guest blog post, I Want to Live in the Tri-Realms.

Where did the idea come from?

Who knows? Thin air? From my butt perhaps? Perhaps both, I’ll have to look into it. Honestly, I don’t have the slightest idea where my book ideas come from. Usually they just pop into my head when I’m working on something completely unrelated. I’ve had a few from dreams, a few while in the shower, a few while writing other books; but the nice thing: they just keep on coming. I have a huge list of them that I plan to write over the course of my career.

With the Dwellers Saga, I knew I wanted to write a dystopian novel because I love reading them. So I just kept that in the back of my head as I was working on my previous project, and one day, the idea just popped into my head. Even the title popped into my head which is unusual for me. So I went with it, and started creating a dark world filled with twists and turns, love and loss, humor and death. The Tri-Realms was born!

What genre does your book fall under?

Young adult dystopian. I only write young adult and children’s books because that’s what I like to read!

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Ugh, I suck at this question although I get it all the time in interviews! To date, I have yet to answer it. Although The Moon Dwellers has been voted to the top of a couple of Listopia lists about books that should be made into movies, I still have yet to cast it. However, if you check out a couple of the stops on my current blog tour for The Star Dwellers, you’ll see who some of my readers have cast for the four main characters in the series.

What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?

I’ll go with a synopsis for The Moon Dwellers rather than The Star Dwellers as it’s the first book in the series: In a world where humans have been forced to live underground due to the uninhabitable earth’s surface, seventeen-year-old Adele—a citizen of the middle class moon dwellers—must attempt to escape from prison, and find and reunite her shattered family armed only with two very capable fists and a wicked roundhouse kick.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

Self-published! I’m a full time Indie author all the way! If a publisher approaches me, I’d certainly listen to what they had to say, but I’m currently not seeking a publisher as I prefer to sell my books for under $5.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

28 days, 15 hours, 6 minutes, and 93,207 words. That’s about normal for me. I tend to average more than 3,000 words per day when I’m working on a project. I get stressed and drive my wife, Adele, crazy if I don't hit my quota!

What other books would you compare this story to within the same genre?

It’s action packed with a strong heroine, so I’d compare it to The Hunger Games and Divergent. My readers have classified it similarly by voting it into the top ten in a number of Listopia lists about books similar to The Hunger Games. However, my series has alternating points of view from Adele and Tristan, which makes it somewhat similar to Legend, which has the same dual-perspectives.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

I was inspired to write a dystopian novel because I love ‘em! I was probably one of the first people to read The Hunger Games (I know, I know, everyone says that, but with me it is really true!), way back before it became hugely popular. I loved it then and I’ve since read tons of other dystopians, none of which I really disliked and most of which I loved! So that made me want to write one of my own.

What else about your book might pique the readers’ interest?

For those who like twists, turns, and secrets in their books, this series has a bunch of them. It will keep you guessing throughout the entire series, so it makes for a fun discussion as everyone will have a different idea as to why Adele and Tristan have such a strong connection (it ain’t insta-love, I can tell you that much), where Adele and Tristan’s mothers are, and what Tristan’s big secret is.

And now, I’m tagging my friend and fellow YA author Chris Sorensen to tell us about what he’s working on! Take it away Chris!