Sunday, February 5, 2012

Bouncer Post #36


Title: KISSING TITANS
Genre: YA urban fantasy
Word Count: 84,000

Query:

It’s Rhyan’s senior year and she’s the new girl. Again. For years she’s been friendless and alone in the isolating shadow of her mother’s rape and stepfather’s sudden death. Her world change when Rhyan lands her first boyfriend and an effervescent BFF who show Rhyan the beauty of living in the moment.

Rhyan’s fears that her new life is too good to be true are confirmed when her friends reveal they are immortals on a mission to right an evil wrong. She begins to question their sanity – and her own – until she discovers Ares, the decomposing remnant of the Greek god of war, is responsible for the violence that destroyed her family.

Vengeance is no longer a fantasy; it’s so real she can taste it when her own boyfriend attacks her leaving her for dead. Rhyan’s life is at an end when she is presented with a choice: accept a dangerous fate offering her the ability to save countless lives from Ares’ sick brand of desolation or finally escape her bleak reality to the peaceful eternity of the afterlife.

In the face of heartbreaking betrayal, after a lifetime of grief and loneliness, Rhyan must decide if vengeance, alone, is worth living for and if she’s willing to go through hell to make Ares pay.

First 250:

It’s not that I hate my mother, Katherine. Hate’s not the right word. I just can’t forgive her. I know I should but I can’t. She’s always giving me new reasons to hold a grudge. I should be furious with her for dragging me halfway across the country to middle-of-nowhere Montana. I was furious with her the last eleven times she forced me into a new town.

This is my twelfth move in nine years. Given that I’m seventeen that means I’ve moved at least once every year since the event when I was eight. I should feel something, anything, but I don’t. Maybe numb is normal.

In the hulking vastness of Montana, just outside of Yellowstone National Park, is a small town called Gardiner. Our new town.

The morning we arrived the sky was a horizontal rainbow of pastels dripping lazily towards the Earth like long pulls of saltwater taffy. The kind of taffy sold warm and chewy on the boardwalk of my last town. I knew I would miss the ocean just as I knew I would never miss the filthy fine sand that covers everything in Florida. Grass rarely grew in Florida and the stuff that did survive was broken glass painted greenish-brown.

“There it is Rhy. Home sweet home.” Katherine sighed longingly as our Subaru pulled up to what could only be described as a cabin.

“Are you serious? This is a LOG cabin.” I snapped. The whole thing could have been built with life size Lincoln Logs. The door, shutters and roof were bright green and made of tin.

“I know!” Katherine squealed. “I’ve always wanted to try rustic.” As if you can put on a place like an accessory.

5 comments:

  1. I have read this story from cover to cover and it is one of the most exciting stories I have ever read. Ryan and her friends are very strong characters and the story as a whole really ends up leaving the reader wanting more.

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  2. Love the saltwater taffy imagery! Nice work!

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  3. I read an early draft of this novel and can see how far it's come. I also know the work will continue to grow and is at a prime place to enjoy the scrutiny of professional eyes. The story's visceral violence contrasts the high romantic fantasy, making for a compelling read. Rhyan's mostly reliable first person perspective captures the vacillation between certainty and confusion that marks adolescent growth into adulthood. Couple this with Rhyan's discovery a world much larger and yet much more secretive than her childhood, and I believe teenagers will find familiar touchstones while escaping into the world of the narrative.

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  4. I've known for a while about this book, and I'm excited that I finally get a taste of it. Now that I do, I can't for more! Greek mythology always makes for an intriguing read, and I am definitely looking forward to reading one written set in the "present".

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  5. I am in love with this story! I love the story line and the images that you create in the reader's mind. I like the way that you tie the description of the new town to the old town. Good job in relating the present to the past. Please post more!

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