Short Stories With An Edge
I’m spreading the word so you don’t miss out. Today and today only, my collection of short stories entitles Four The Twist, is free on Amazon. These stories vary in genre, from ghosts to werewolves, but they have one thing in common. The end is a twist. Prepare yourself to expect the unexpected, and find comfort in the strange. The link is included in the post, along with the cover. Go pick yours up now!
I recently finished reading the first two books in Jason Brant’s “The Hunger Series”. As I myself know all too well, it is word of mouth that sells indie work.
I am posting my reviews here for book one and two of the series. If you’re looking for a good indie writer, Brant will set you straight.
The Hunger, Book 1
Devoured
Jason Brant is definitely an Indie Author worth checking out. In The Hunger, Devoured, the world is ending. A terrible disease has turned what’s left of mankind into monsters. Now these aren’t your typical zombie/vampire/monster/creatures. Brant brings to life a new breed of fear. His Vladdies are fierce, disgusting, and down right spine chilling. Join Lance, and Cass as they make their way out of the city and into the mountains, running from the monsters in the night and the men who are just as evil. With a fast moving plot and good action scenes, this book is a quick read. For all you monster and apocalypse enthusiasts, you should read this novel. It’s the first in the series, so be prepared to keep going. Thank you, Jason Brant, for this fun ride.
https://www.goodreads.com/aubreasummer
The Hunger, Part 2 Consumed
Coming into Consumed, The Hunger 2, I was already excited as I’ve read the first in the series. The plot thickens as the characters face nightly reins of evil and daily doses of the rotten core in man. Lance and Cass struggle to save their friends and get far enough away to avoid the monsters in the dark. They can’t hide out forever though, and the cities are running out of food. The creatures will be moving their way, if they don’t stop them. They have a plan, but it’s dangerous. They are going to destroy the nest, or die trying. I highly suggest reading the first novel, as it leads you in to these characters and situations. The action never stops, and Brant has a way of convincing you that just one more chapter won’t hurt. Pick up this book. It’s fun, fast, and frightening.
Check them out. I think they’re definitely good reads.
In my bout of taking a day off from the keyboard, I find myself here again. Why, you ask? I simply cannot make my brain quiet down and sit patiently beside me on the couch. It will not. It refuses. So, today I’ve decided to give it something completely brainless to do, or so I thought. This took me far longer than expected. This was work, and the brain tricked me again.
What’s this?
Well, I’ve assembled a cast for the movie production of Sixteen Seconds (which hasn’t yet happened, nor would they likely let me decide, but it’s fun). I’ve got three out of my, um, shit. How many characters are in this series? Anyway, here are the three main characters, along with the celebrity I feel most adequately represents and resembles them.
Also, I think all three of these actors/actresses would do a fine job. Did you hear me out there Hollywood? This cast would rock… I promise.
In no particular order of favoritism, here are the shining stars by role.
Oh, also, there may be a few minor spoilers here, but nothing much. I wouldn’t be caught not warning you.
Kenneth Ridley
Ridley was a doctor, a psychiatrist to be more specific. That wasn’t a life long dream. He’s been searching for someone, anyone, who might be like him and understand how to control this power. Ridley can move things with his thoughts, but it wasn’t until he met young Sera Rais, barely ten years old, that he realized how powerful this could truly be. As the world crumbled around them, Ridley focused on educating and training others, lost souls with the same power he found in Sera and himself. By the time the government took every weapon, job, and future from the population, Ridley was ready. His teams attacked. They were successful, using only thought as a weapon. It backfired. Those in power searched out the means to extinguish this new force. The NID was developed, and citizenship was now dependent on compliance. The other option was death. The device allowed no more than eight seconds of thought at a time, taking away the only power left. With only Sera remaining as an ally, they do the last thing they can. They find the heart of the institution, and they destroy it. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the answer. Now Ridley blames himself for the depletion of the country and the state of being in the children, The Ferals. There must be a way he can make it right, and he won’t give up until he finds it.
I chose Scott Speedman for Kenneth Ridley because of his voice. I don’t know what it is, but when I heard it I thought “that’s Ridley.” Also, he’s perfect for the role. His hair, his jawline, his eyes, his height, his build, his age, his talent. Everything. Also, I really haven’t seem him in an action role for a while, and he kicked ass in Underworld. So, here you are. Scott Speedman as my pick for Kenneth Ridley.
Roland Mason
Roland has been on his own for years, living on the scraps the city has to offer and the pieces of thoughts he isn’t allowed to entertain. Anything over eight seconds will get you fried, and Roland knows this all too well. He spends days and nights moving from one place to the next, avoiding another accidental run in with a gang of cannibalistic lunatics and scouring for food and water. Today isn’t his day. After setting off the device twice, he topped that with a nose dive off the side of a wall. Coming to his senses in the dirt, he awakes surrounded by the Ferals that roam in wild packs through the decrepit streets. Now, they were considering him to be lunch. With the aid of an unexpected stranger, Roland quickly discovers how much more is really going on outside of his world, and how to get back what he’s been missing for so long.
I chose Garrett Hedlund for Roland because of the description, but also the roles he takes. I find that on screen, his presence is valid even without words. I wanted someone for the role who could express with just their eyes what they felt, even if they weren’t allowed to think it through. Also, he is handsome. I won’t try and deny that there is a draw, but why not? The hair fits, the eyes fit, and look at this picture. That’s a Roland face if I’ve ever pictured one. If you don’t know what I mean, I know where you can get the book. Just saying. Without further ado, here is Garrett Hedlund, my casting choice for Roland Mason.
“C”
C is one of the survivors of the man made apocalypse, along with her faithful companion Lyrique, the 140lb Rottweiler she found in a shed who guards her every breath. Losing her family in the beginning of the war, C is left to learn how to cope alone. Falling victim alongside the population to the NID, her thoughts are stripped away with the rest of the country. In a botched suicide attempt, C becomes a key to unlocking the future of the human race.
I chose Rachel Bilson for a few reasons. One of the deciding factors was her sweetness, her innocence if you will. She shines through her roles with such a light, and C is the same sort of person in the story, independent and tough, but with quiet compassion. Also, the freckles, the eye color, and the face almost perfectly fit the description. She is the sort of pretty I find almost old fashioned in a girl, with an inner strength that resonates in the eyes. Those, along with her talent as an actress, led me to Rachel Bilson as Casey Wright.
Rachel Bilson ( Fantasy Cast: Casey Wright, Sixteen Seconds )
I hope you had as much fun as I did, and if you’re interested, the novel is available on Amazon for the low price of 2.99.
Let me know what you think, if you’ve read it. I’m still looking for Sera, so if you have any suggestions, I’m open.
Until next time,
Peace
I am a firm believer that happiness can be found on the road less traveled, and far more bumpy. Roll down the windows. Turn up the music. Let the Zen In.
Sixteen Seconds, An Epilogue To Humanity Novel
Available on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JFHKLPS
Meet Roland, one of the survivors of the man-made apocalypse. Every day is a struggle, without the constant intrusion of the NID. How do you maintain when your thoughts are stolen away from you? What is it worth to get them back? Welcome to Roland’s world, and the end of everything you know.
Gathering up his dwindling supplies and carefully arranging them in the oversized backpack took less effort than a long piss. It would have been quicker if he didn’t have to stop planning every five seconds or so and look up at the clouds. The sky offered interruption, a separation of consecutive thoughts. The storm seemed to stay above the horizon, not venturing high enough to spill any rain. Roland would need water sooner than the clouds would provide it. Five seconds. The rifle. He finally decided. He could put a few of them out of their misery. Cut that one close. Seven seconds. It took all morning to make that choice. Roland didn’t think it was wrong to shoot them. They weren’t really alive, anyway. Five seconds is good. Back to baseball stats he could never forget and didn’t have to think about. In 1999 Jeter had one hundred and two runs batted in. That little cushion was one of the only reassurances Roland had.
Office buildings. The thought is fast and leaves no other clue. Those giant water bottles. Roland put it together. Memory flitted through time to time, if it was a quick thought. He’d found water that way before. Keep it short and sweet and he would find it that way again. Roland often thought of himself as a rat, a rodent, a terrified, sketched out half crazy beating heart in the dark trying only to find the scraps to stay alive. This whole thought never came as one segment, of course. Roland wouldn’t allow it, and right now, he wasn’t hungry either.
There were offices in this building. He’d seen them. Six seconds. Focusing on furniture and broken glass, he headed out the door towards the ground level lobby. The place smelled like hot fresh death. The carpet still looked brand new. Idle, haphazard notions rattled around for a moment before they were tossed out like grenades with no pins. The inside of Roland’s head could be likened to alternating strands of Christmas lights set on flash mode. One idea is allowed to light up, one thought, but it must burn out fast enough as the next section, or idea, flickers on. The former thought hasn’t fully dissipated, it is merely dormant. It can be relit once another has interrupted the consecutive execution of the thought. There are always new thoughts turning on, turning off, pausing, waiting, developing, reawakening, and sometimes even becoming whole. If he is patient, eventually the lights will have cycled through enough times to leave at least a few bulbs warm.
The ground floor persuaded Roland to send his breakfast hurtling against the bottom of a nearby wall. Beans don’t match the paint. He could have sworn he chewed them. Three seconds. He ignored the desire to contemplate the moment, throwing an arm over his nose and mouth to ease the stench. Why were there so many? Two seconds. Roland scanned the corpse strewn lobby for a water cooler, quickly realizing why they were all in here; what had led to this mess. Sometimes you can’t stop a thought, no matter how you try. Sometimes you get fried for the good ones. They’d ripped each other apart, fighting desperately over the last of something we took for granted. The majority must have died before they ever had a sip, crushed and trampled under the naked bleeding feet of the horde. There were so many of them. The doors were electronic, sealed now that the power was out. Roland cursed, holding his head. Maybe they got in before the electricity failed. Although the lobby resembled the aftermath of the blitzkrieg, the decay wasn’t nearly enough for it to have been that long. How did they get inside if there is no way out? Five seconds. Roland had climbed the fire escape, never leaving the room he happened into through the window he broke. There was no water here now, and no more time to give care to wonder.
Back upstairs, back through the jagged glass under-bite of the remaining window, and back down the fire escape. Roland jogged the familiar streets, ignoring the slap of the pavement through the thinly worn sole of his left boot. It would be without one soon, just like the rest of the world. They seldom even looked his direction, yet somehow still knew when he approached; ducking behind dumpsters like frightened alley cats and scattering into the closest shell of a sanctuary. As if he could really harm them. As if there was anything worse that could be done. He’d heard of them attacking the living, ripping at skin and biting like animals. He’d never seen it. He wasn’t even sure if he believed it. None the less, Roland still found it uncomfortable to walk too close to them, to be among them at all. Everyone stayed out of the cities. That’s why he was here. He wasn’t terrified of them, not like most others were. He could pass by and scavenge where others wouldn’t. The worst part, the eerie overwhelming kicker, the thing that set his teeth on edge and made his skin dance in tiny shudders was always the silence. The only interruption of an occasional bird chirping or the scuttling of windblown paper across a crumbling street merely added to the unnatural looming dread. They did not speak. They never had.
Roland cut through the park, overlooking the putrid smell of yet another drone corpse, laid to rest on a bench. They were all going to die eventually. Four seconds. It still surprised him that any at all remained. Some basic instinct for survival kept them foraging, kept them searching for food and water, kept them in their prolonged state of vacancy. They were here, all right. Roland could reach out and touch them, if he had the nerve, but they were not “here”.
Four million, three hundred thousand babies born that year in the United States… Eight million, six hundred thousand parents not thinking twice. Four million, three hundred thousand children entering a population of prisoners; children born hostages of some internal hell they could not break free from. Maybe they didn’t want to, maybe they didn’t know how, maybe they couldn’t. Hell, for all Roland knew, maybe it wasn’t as bad as where he was now. He didn’t want to think about it, and not solely to avoid being fried. It was still too easy to set off the aching echo where a heart once beat. It hadn’t been long enough to get a college degree, let alone forget completely. Three seconds. Drones or not, they had all been somebody’s children. Six seconds. That would be enough lamenting for the lost. He would join the ranks of the untimely if he didn’t get into gear and salvage some provisions.
Like what you read? Get the novel on Amazon for just 2.99.
Start Reading Sixteen Seconds Now
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Today, Sunday the 6th of April, is the last day you’ll be able to pick up Sixteen Seconds AND Burn This Way for free. Both novels are at the end of their free promotion, and will return to 0.99 tomorrow. While the price will never be daunting, here is a chance for you to grab a copy for absolutely nothing. Of course, I do ask that you leave a review when you’re done. Reviews help authors reach a greater audience, and we love you for it. Below are the blurbs and coinciding links for both novels. Enjoy!
*Sixteen Seconds*
Sixteen Seconds
The world didn’t end the way we thought it would, back when we could think at all. Amidst the ruins of a civilization where anything beyond the boundaries of an eight second thought will be penalized and confiscated by a dangerous neurological implant that has already obliterated compassion and reason, humanity becomes what it fears the most.
*Burn This Way*
Burn This Way.
Finding yourself wrongfully accused of a crime is a terrible thing, but becoming the prime suspect under the pursuit of a vengeful collaboration of vampires is far worse, especially if you don’t know why they want you dead. Rhiamon is running out of time, something she never considered would conflict with immortality. She must find a way to stop them before everything she loves is gone forever.
My father calls to tell me about the dream he had.
*He, John Lennon, and I are standing on the bank of a river, he says.
Across from us, a man excitedly begins to wave and shout from the bridge. The man proceeds to leap into the water and swim across the river to us. He climbs out and frantically begins to yell “It’s you! It’s you!”
He gets closer and says “I can’t believe it’s really Aubrea Summer.”*
As I listen to my dad tell me this, I am waiting patiently for this dream man’s adoration of Lennon, as I am already enthralled I’m even allowed to stand beside him in a dream, and he is excited to see me.
I graciously accept the praise of my father’s subconscious.
But Lennon?
Helluva compliment.
By the way, Sunday, 4/6/14 is the last day to get Sixteen Seconds for free. While you’re at it, pick up Burn This Way before it too is no longer on special. Feel free to check out my Facebook page for more information. Sweet dreams. May Lennon or Elvis grace you with their song. 😉
If you haven’t read Sixteen Seconds yet, better get your copy while it is still free. Meet Lyrique, one of my favorite parts of the novel. You can pick your copy up now at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/425114
Have you downloaded the new novel yet? If not, now is the time. It is free only for a limited time. Get your copy today!
Quotes from the new novel.
Aubrea Summer, Author 