~~~FALL BOOK BASH~~~FALL BOOK BASH~~~FALL BOOK BASH~~~ Continuing our fine selection of authors and books, today Lia London is sharing an excerpt from her wonderful young adult trilogy, The Gypsy Pearl. Be sure to read to the end for an exciting countdown sale!
Caz is tired of living in space. She would do anything to visit the surface of one of the three planets in the system~ even get herself sentenced to a reformatory for violent youth.
But the stars have more in store for Caz. A strange alien encounter launches her on a quest to visit three worlds, receive three gifts, and obtain three powers. To do so could mean that she rules the entire solar system. To fail means certain death for her and an entire species she comes to love.
THE GYPSY PEARL Full Trilogy Edition (excerpt)
“C’mon, Caz,” said Felly. “We need to get out of here.”
“I know. Haven’t you figured out that’s what I want more than anything?”
Felly folded her arms. “Caz,” she said, echoing Dad’s tone of voice, “You get to travel all around the solar system and meet fascinating ambassadors. If you were down on the Surface, you’d be living in primitive colonies. You should be grateful to live on the biggest and best ICS in the system.”
She’ll never understand me. Who wants to live in a space rest stop that’s between the places people really want to go?
“Someone’s coming!” hissed Felly, shuffling into a hangar two doors down.
I ducked behind the space buggy, clinging to the rear thrusters with my fingers. A false step would mean a twenty-meter drop, so I pressed up against the craft. Down below, the wide metallic floor was lit with red glowing strips to direct the caddies. Only a few workers monitored the area. One groomed himself in his reflection on the shiny metal support beams. Everything is shiny here. It’s all I’ve ever known, but no one can convince me it’s the natural order of things because I can’t stay shiny for a whole day, let alone forever.
A woman turned in my direction, and I leaned back further into the space buggy. Suddenly, a small hatch opened under me, and I landed on my butt in the smallest cargo hull ever.
I peeked out cautiously. No one below had taken notice, so I relaxed. Enough light reached in to glance around, but I didn’t see past the first thing.
Wood!
A curved box—a really old piece. It smelled dirty and foreign … and wonderful. The tiny ridges of the wood grain tickled my fingertips, and I rested my cheek against its dark beauty. An antique like this would bring an astronomical price with collectors. I twisted the old-fashioned lock made of some yellowish metal. A loud click echoed in the largely metallic chamber, and I winced. I checked over my shoulder for movement below, but the grooming guy was gone, and the other two were talking to each other.
When I turned back, a pair of bright yellow eyes glowed from under the open lid!
I screamed.
A creature—like a cat-sized human—emerged without blinking. It pulled its legs from the wooden box and leapt onto me, knocking me back onto my elbows. Its eyes narrowed, pinning me down with their intensity. The creature crouched on my stomach and started sniffing at my arms. Its mouth came open, and I almost screamed again. There were a lot of teeth in there. Sharp teeth.
“Don’t eat me,” I whimpered, looking at it sideways.
It wore a brown and green coversuit like the beige ones most of us wear on the Arxon. A thin layer of white fuzz covered its head, but otherwise its pale grey skin actually gleamed. It really did appear very human except for the mouth and eyes. That should have been comforting.
Exhaling slowly, I tried to shift to get some leverage to kick away. No luck. Sharp nails popped from the tips of its fingers like retractable claws. In a flash, the creature slashed my right shoulder. A burning pain propelled me into action. No longer worried about making noise, I scrambled back out of the space buggy, banging my head on the hatch in my haste. That disoriented me for a second, and I lost my balance. One leg dropped over the ledge and I felt myself fall!
The creature caught my arm with superhuman strength. Holding a tiny white ball between its thumb and forefinger, it spoke with a gravelly voice. “No one steals a Gypsy Pearl!”
“I didn’t steal anything!”
With a violent shove, the creature crammed the ball into my wound and hurled me free of the space buggy and away from the ledge. It slithered back into the craft and closed the hatch behind it.
Panting, I crawled out of the hangar, feeling the grates of the floor dig into my kneecaps and palms. Drips of blood fell through the vents, and I wondered vaguely if some computer would analyze the debris and know it was me.
Exhausted from the adrenaline rush, I almost didn’t hear the footsteps clanging down the corridor. “You!” called a guard. “What are you doing here?”
Cupping my hand over my shoulder, I rose awkwardly. “I’m sorry. I was just—”
“Oh, it’s you, Caz,” said the guard gruffly. “Go wash up, brat. And don’t come down here again.”
I hesitated because I couldn’t see Felly.
“Mr. Lew will hear of this,” he said, wagging a finger. “You’re supposed to be on the family deck. Go to the rec hall like the other kids. Don’t you know where you belong?” He waved me away, shaking his head.
I ran along the corridor and ducked into a washroom. An elderly lady glared at me disapprovingly, so I lunged for the sink, careful to avoid eye contact. My ‘general disheveled nature’ always gets scowls from the life-long ICS dwellers. They love to give me demerits for my sloppiness.
I worked quickly to rinse away the blood. The instant the fresh water touched my skin, I felt a relief from the pain.
“What the—?”
Not even a scar remained!
~~~
**Don’t wait to get your copy. It’s on kindle countdown Nov. 16-21, but the price climbs throughout the week, so for the best deal get it today! Only .99¢ for the entire trilogy! That’s a terrific deal because Lia’s books are always amazingly imaginative and fun.
>>Download now! Gypsy Pearl trilogy<<
~~~
Lia London started writing comedic sketches and nature poetry as a school girl in Scotland where her American family lived for three years. She traveled and read as much as possible, and has never really come back to suburban reality since. Her first writing love is humor, but she has added fantasy and science fiction to the mix, too. She is a happily married wife and mother with a black belt in Tae kwon do and an excessive fondness for milk chocolate and cheese. When not writing, she is teaching, singing or reading, reading, reading. She now lives with her husband, her son, her daughter, her cat and her dog.
One of her great passions is advocating for independent authors through her blog Clean Indie Reads and the related Facebook group. Over 2100 authors gather to learn about writing, editing, formatting, cover designing, marketing, and enduring the long road of self-publishing.
~~~
Thanks for stopping! Have a question for Lia or just want to say hi? Leave a comment below!
Barbara
Leave a Reply