Katie Hamstead's Blog, page 24

Son of a Pitch Entry: Hunter

Title: HUNTERAge and Genre: YA Urban FantasyWord Count: 56,000
Query:When sixteen year old Hunter’s growing telepathic ability lands her on the FBI’s radar, her colleague puts a gun to her head. He wants to silence the secrets of their bounty hunter agency locked in her mind. Fortunately for her, it’s not her time to die.
Surviving means making an unlikely friend with an FBI agent named Seeker. He’s the same agent that caused her partner to turn on her in the first place, and he has a mission of his own. Bring Hunter back alive to face judgment for her role in a multitude of murders she’s being accused of.
After nearly escaping the FBI’s grasp with a rogue telepath named Duke and having her thoughts pilfered for information against her will, Hunter learns that she must put her life on the line to clear her name and bring down Talon, her former agency.
With each passing hour throwing her deeper into the game of life and death, Hunter must decide who to trust before this mission becomes her last. 
First 250 Words:As a type one telepath, you would think I had the skills not to end up freezing to death in the middle of Seattle, Washington. It was a dreary place where the sun didn’t shine and the rain came and went like waves on the shore. It wasn’t an ideal place but it was where the bounty had brought me. I was searching for a mark that was proving to be a pain in my ass. It had been three weeks since we had taken the job and today was the closest we had been to finding Dawn Miles.
My heart skipped a beat when the com in my ear buzzed. “Hunter, we’re running out of time. You know what happens if someone else gets to Miles before we do. All this work would be for nothing.”
In the bounty hunter line of work, you never knew who else was out there searching for the same prize, especially when one paid as well as this did. I exhaled and tried to calm my nerves. This one wasn’t going to get away.
“I’m trying. There are a lot of minds to sift through.” I spoke quietly to my partner Bear, trying not to look like a crazy person. My mind was lost in the sea of people, drifting through their inner monologues, almost losing myself in their stories. Sweat dripped from my temples as I pulled myself from almost passing out.

Son of a Pitch Entry: The Glass Sisters

Title: THE GLASS SISTERSCategory and Genre: YA Speculative ThrillerWords: 83,000
Query:Seventeen-year-old Rebecca Glass doesn’t want to die, but downing a bottle of pills seems the only way to escape her control-freak-mother. Ending it all is the first real decision she’s ever made herself—until the charismatic girl in the mirror appears. The girl entices Rebecca to tap into latent powers she’s spent her whole life repressing, teaching her how to slip through the glass into an alternate reality—one without her mother. And the only thing the girl in the mirror asks in exchange? To live Rebecca’s crappy life.
With nothing to lose, Rebecca accepts the girl in the mirror’s offer to swap places, unwittingly falling victim to a carefully orchestrated plot of revenge. On the other side of the mirror, Rebecca finds herself confined to a mental hospital that has sinister designs for girls with extraordinary abilities. Brutally exploited for her power and at the mercy of the girl in the mirror, Rebecca is desperate to reclaim the life and mother she once threw away.
To overcome her ruthless reflection, Rebecca must master her abilities and her depression. But her mirror-image holds a powerful secret, a tragedy in their past that links the two girls in blood. And if learning the truth of what they really are doesn’t destroy Rebecca, the girl in the mirror will…

First 250:The Girl in the Mirror
Imprisoned within the silence of the box, the girl sat alone, solitary confinement her natural state of existence. She sat comfortably on the padded floor, her legs criss-crossed, head bowed, a slip of rectangle-glass clutched neatly in the palm of her hand. The intensity of her gaze reflected back at her.
She concentrated.
Her breath a metronome, in and out, the rhythm helping her focus. Pressure squeezed in from her temples, making her eyes water—but it always did right before she made the connection. Then, when the connection went live, sweet release as swift and forgiving as plucking a splinter the size of a railroad spike from the center of her brain.
The glass she held no longer just a glass, but a window. What was displayed there was her face, but it was not her. It was a her that could have been, a her that may yet be.
The girl hated what she saw all the same.
Hated how the other her looked so content, so safe. So smug. She glared into the mirror studiously, trying to replicate the other girl’s half-hearted smile, but it felt crooked on her own face, as out of place as she herself was.
When she could take no more, when the pain in her heart equaled the pain in her head, she severed the connection.
The girl tucked the mirror away in her undergarments beneath her thin gown. It was addicting, peeking in on that other life, but she had to be careful.

Son of a Pitch Entry: The Pendragon's Son

Title: THE PENDRAGON'S SON
Age and Genre: YA Fantasy
Word Count: 99,000

Query: When Excalibur is stolen, King Arthur’s son, Prince Vaeldhei, embarks on a quest to reclaim it and thwart his misguided half-brother Mordred from killing their father and igniting a countrywide war. 
A grim prophecy predicts the fall of Camelot and none dare oppose it, except for the prince, who is determined to protect his family. But Vaeldhei has never left the protection of his mentor, Merlin, before and attempting to alter fate is a fool’s errand.
Though the brothers were once friends, Mordred’s mind has been warped by his mother, a vengeful sorceress who has convinced him that his father and brother are his true enemies. Consumed by her lies, Mordred breaks ties with Vaeldhei and helps steal the legendary Excalibur, leaving the kingdom without its holy protection.As Vaeldhei struggles to recover the holy sword and reclaim his brother from the sorceress’s clutches, Camelot is on the brink of a deadly war. The prophecy is nearing its fulfillment. If Vaeldhei cannot unite his broken family, he will have to assemble an army to protect all he loves, even if it means fighting against his own brother.First 250 Words:As I hurried down the castle’s vast stone corridor to meet my half-brother for the first time, his name echoed around me, whispered like a curse: Mordred.The arrival of my brother—a youth who made the great fortress of Camelot resound with fear―made me feel more energized than I had in years. Finally. Finally. I had a brother. Family. Surely he would not shun me as the others had. Surely he would understand what it meant to be an outcast in one’s own family. I had to see him.I approached the vaulted doorway of the Great Hall. Straightening, I walked toward the raised dais, careful to keep my pace steady though my legs urged me forward.Faster, faster, faster!No. A prince must always be calm and collected. My muscles strained, but I reigned in my eagerness.The dais seemed so far away.I passed by the gathered knights and soldiers in an agonizingly slow manner. Most paid me no heed, too absorbed in gossiping about my brother.One said in a trembling voice, “It’s the prophecy! It won’t let him die, not until he slays the king and rains death on Camelot!”“Vermin never did die easy,” another said with a sneer.“That cowardly wretch.” A soldier with a scar on his face leaned forward, scoffing. “Curse him and his witch mother to the depths of hell.”I bit my tongue, trying to ignore their disgraceful ignorance. Such disrespect. All over an unfounded—and unreliable—prophecy made decades ago.

Son of a Pitch Entry: The Stained Glass Sun and Moon

Title: THE STAINED GLASS SUN AND MOONAge/Genre: YA ContemporaryWord Count: 80,000
QUERY:Sixteen-year-old Jules Geary is taking a pregnancy test. If it’s positive, her life is over. If it’s negative, she gets a second chance, but it won’t be with Jesse. Not after what they did to each other.At the beginning, things were good. Surprise dates, impromptu road trips and falling in love. Nothing else mattered. Not even Jesse’s brother’s crush on her or Jesse’s ex-girlfriend circling like a vulture.Then things started to matter.Jesse got resentful over the time Jules spent at softball practice and she was annoyed by his lack of support. They got into a fight and Jesse made a huge mistake. So did Jules.Now she’s standing in a bathroom, waiting three minutes for a sign. What happens next will be worse than anything she can imagine.
250 WORDS:            I lock myself in the bathroom stall and sit down, clutching the test. To my right, someone flushes, and a group of women by the sinks discuss their jobs. This is not the place I want to learn my fate, but I have no choice. If I go home, I risk being caught by my parents and I can't handle a confrontation after what happened with Jesse tonight. It's better to be surrounded by strangers, even though I suddenly feel both exposed and alone.“Lauren?” I ask.“I’m right here,” my best friend answers quickly from the other side of the door and I relax enough to tear open the box. The instructions are a confusing blur of diagrams and words, so I toss them on the floor. I don't need a step-by-step on how to pee.“Jules?” Lauren reaches under the door to pick the paper up. “Are you okay?”“Yeah.” My hands are shaking so hard I almost drop the stick in the toilet. “I just forgot how long this is supposed to take.”She moves her face to the crack in the door and whispers, “Three minutes. I’ll time it with my phone.”“Hold on.”“Oh, sorry.” She turns around and I almost laugh at her embarrassment. The only one who should feel that way is me. I’d rushed to Jesse’s side earlier that evening because his voicemail said he needed me. We were supposed to work things out.

Son of a Pitch Entry: Supernova Fall, Supernova Fly

Title: Supernova Fall,Supernova Fly
Category and Genre: YA contemporaryWord Count : 79,000
Query :Sixteen-year-old Krishna Covalho lost her memories the same day her best friend Emily died. Krishna now an insomniac is in therapy, makes all her decisions by a magic 8- Ball. And in the unlikely case she does fall asleep, she is terrorized by nightmares and her waking hours spent in fear of the demons that haunt her.
But even her 8-Ball can’t predict when one night her neighbor and infamous troublemaker Novahk McAllister walks into her life thus beginning an unlikely friendship and maybe more.
When a video showing Emily in a compromising situation surfaces at school, everything Krishna knew about her best friend is threatened. Was Emily really in an accident, as her parents keep telling her or is the truth something else entirely?
Convinced her repressed memories have everything to do with Emily and the circumstances surrounding her death, Krishna becomes determined to find out the truth. She enlists Novahk’s help in tracking down the source of the video. But Novahk has secrets of his own from the night everything went wrong. And the very thing that might drive him and Krishna apart. As Krishna’s nightmares escalate into horrible flashbacks, she’s forced to confront her role in her best friend’s death. Now Krishna must decide if she’s finally brave enough to forgive herself and let go of the demons of her past.

First 250 words:Normal people are asleep. It’s two in the morning and normal people are dreaming.I am wide awake, my comforter wrapped around me as I surf through Netflix for another movie to watch. I am not normal people.Sometimes I wish I could be. I know the spelling: N-O-R-M-A-L. I know its meaning, but somewhere between the beginning of junior year and the night I can’t remember, I lost the essence of it.Maybe Godzilla will finally put me to sleep or maybe it will be the evil Jack trying to kill his family that does the trick. When I do fall asleep in an unlikely scenario, my dreams are always a sliver of reality and blurred images. Nothing happens except for loud noises punctuated by murky colors. Sometimes I hear a scream, but it’s far away. And then the demon creeps in. It’s it that I am afraid of. Sometimes it slips out of my nightmares and into my reality, lying and waiting to catch me.A sharp knock comes and I jump out of my skin.Are the demons getting braver? I ask myself as I look around for the source. Maybe I’ll die as a cliché with a hand coming out of my bed and dragging me under.Then there comes another sound, this time from the general direction of the windows. The drawn shutter keeps me from seeing who or what is outside.But whatever it is can’t be good. It’s two in the freaking morning and the probability of a bird pecking on the glass is zero to none.

Son of a Pitch Entry: Bellamy of the Ball

Title: Bellamy of the BallAge and Genre: YA Fairytale RetellingWord Count: 70,000
Query:Sixteen-year-old Bellamy's been trained to zone in on a person's soft targets. She thinks it's a game, but what she doesn't know is the game is called self-preservation. 
After Bellamy loses her father, she channels her grief into elbow strikes and leg sweeps thanks to a godmother with a penchant for self-defense. With her help, the girl escapes the clutches of her evil stepmother and changes her surname, but regardless of her godmother's protective efforts, a dangerous hacker unravels the truth about Bellamy's connection to the creator of a spy nanochip that threatens the world's security. When her evil stepmother hires a thief to steal it, he targets the oblivious girl, leaving her with questions about who her father really was. During an intense training session, the watch entrusted to her by her late father breaks open and she finds the highly sought after invention. She pairs with a princely pauper from her S.T.E.M. school to unlock its secrets without revealing her own. However, learning the chip was designed to steal data from every smartphone in the world puts both their lives on the line.
On the night of the masked homecoming ball, her godmother goes missing and Bellamy must rely on her friends and her training to overcome her evil stepmother, deliver the nanochip to the father she thought was dead, and return the rental couture gown before the clock strikes midnight...but she may lose her prince in the process. 

First 250:The advanced warning manifested itself in the boys’ rigid postures, sweaty brows, open pie-holes, and hands readied at their waists. Their laser focus supplied me with even more valuable insight—I wasn’t their prey.He was walking ahead of me and toward them along the tree-lined path. I estimated his height to be six feet. He was lean and strong, but not strong enough to take on three, and his focus, lost in his smartphone, was about to provide him with a brutal lesson.I scanned the park grounds in search of other Brooklynites, but with school arriving tomorrow, patrons had dwindled to nothing. I slowed my pace and tucked a corner of my cotton candy pink T-shirt into the waistband of my black leggings.With a rush, they were on him. One punch turned him into a dirt eater.“Effing eff.” Thugs like that thrived on the fight. Stay down, I thought, but the boy scrambled to his feet, fueling the hunger to subdue him and take whatever they were after, usually a twenty, if they didn’t know him or a chunk of self-esteem, if they did.I picked up the stick, one inch in diameter, laying two feet to my right.

Son of a Pitch Round 3 Contestants

Here are the entries for Round 3. If you didn't get an email and you're on this list, please email your entry through anyway.

Young Adult:The SchoolThe Blood BarrierThe Glass SistersShadow of a SoulBellamy of the BallSupernova Fall, Supernova FlyThe Time SlaveThe Pendragon's Son
Hunter
When Planets Fall
The Stained Glass Sun and Moon
Neodymium Exodus
New Adult:No Halo
Adult:Aldar DominionForbidden
The Proxy InitiativeMy Soul to GiveCoded for MurderTides of MagicStanding the Final Watch

Review: Gambit by C.L. Denault

Gambit by C.L. Denault 
(The Prodigy Chronicles #1) 
Published by: REUTS Publications
Publication date: March 31st 2015 
Genres: Dystopia, Young Adult

Goodreads
In Earth’s battle-ridden future, humans have evolved. Those with extraordinary skills rise to power and fame. Those without live in poverty.

Sixteen-year-old Willow Kent believed she was normal. But when a genetically-advanced military officer shows up in her village and questions her identity, long-buried secrets begin to emerge. With remarkable skills and a shocking genetic code the Core and its enemies will do anything to obtain, Willow suddenly finds the freedom she craves slipping through her fingers. Greed, corruption, and genetic tampering threaten every aspect of her existence as she’s thrust, unwilling, into the sophisticated culture of the elite Core city. To ensure peace, she must leave the past behind, marry a man she’s never met, and submit to the authority of a relentless officer with a hidden agenda of his own.

Her life has become a dangerous game. How much will she sacrifice in order to win?

Leave review here: 

My Thoughts:
When I saw this pop up for review, I had to get my hands on it. I've heard nothing but good things about this novel, and I wanted to see exactly why it is so popular.

I will admit, at first I struggled with reading it. The first 30% or so was a bit on the boring side, and Willow did not appeal to me. She was bratty, senseless, and impulsive. The first chapter or so she was fine, but when she starts to interact with Reece, she irked me.
They take a tediously long amount of time to leave, but when they finally do, things start to happen. That when I started to really get into this book. The pace of this story ebbs and flows, with moments of tension and excitement, then moments of slow, almost uninteresting scenes.
The latter end of the book is where things finally get interesting. Because of that, I will continue this series. Willow starts to settle as a character, and so does Reece. But I do feel like other characters are left too wide open, even if this isn't a series, like what happened to Morrigan. For someone who was in a sense an innocent bystander, I feel like she wasn't treated right, nor was her affect on the lives of the people she'd always known and had always known her, really taken into account. Being a series, I seriously hope those plot holes are resolved in later books.
I'm definitely gripped by this story though. With such an open ending, I'm eager for the next part, like I've been thrown into a slowly and meticulously crafted world, given a great start, and now I need to wait. I should wait until series are completed!
All up, I ended up enjoying this, despite the slow start. It's a clean read, with a well thought-out world and character development.

***Thank you Xpresso Tours for providing a review copy.***

Book 2 of my Fairytale Galaxy Series is Officially Signed!

You heard it here, folks! With Book 1, Princess of Tyrone, mere weeks from release, Book 2, Myths of Mish has begun its journey down the road to publication, having signed on with Curiosity Quills Press. The goal is to have the books release a year apart, so hopefully you will get to read this baby in March 2017.

With no further ado, here's a short description:

Hansel and Gretel Herrscher survived the witch in the woods, but the experience made Hansel paranoid for the past ten years. He sees dark magic at every turn, and when Gretel has a marriage arranged to a much older man, and Hansel discovers he's about to be sent halfway across the galaxy, he knows something sinister is afoot. 

Wilhelmine Nordon has plenty of experience with Hansel's quirkier side. So when she catches him and Gretel running away in the middle of the night, she follows to keep them from getting killed. The siblings have never left the capital of Mish on their own, so they need a babysitter. Except when she's discovered, Hansel gives her his usual cold shoulder, and Gretel secretly begs her to take them back. 

The problem is, Hansel's paranoia turns out to be well founded, and they're all being hunted.

Yay! This is Hansel and Gretel meets.... well, you'll just have to wait and see! If you've been following along, you will know that, along with being fairy tale retellings, this series uses the seven deadly sins, one for each book. With Princess of Tyrone focusing on Wrath, Myths of Mish has... Gluttony! I wonder if that's a nice little teaser for you to ponder over for the next 12 months or so.

Anyway! I'm excited to keep this journey rolling and hope you follow along with me with these fab characters.

Blog Tour: Temper by @becknicholas @chapterxchapter @month9books

Hi. Thanks for having me here to celebrate the release of Temper. I’m so excited about the sequel to Lifer and can’t wait for everyone to read it.I’m from Australia, in South Australia and I live just a few minutes from the sea. Where I live and being Australian can’t help but influence my writing. In fact, the whole idea of a ‘LIFER” someone working off ancestor’s petty crimes was inspired by Australia’s convict past. I wanted to put that idea of being sent far away from your home and country into the future.My Aussieness seeps in to my language choices although there aren’t many ‘mates’ or ‘shielas’ in the story. My wonderful editors help make sure I don’t include anything too strange. I think we’re all influences by where we come from. I think there are echoes of the Aussie outback in the harsh countryside where those from the Pelican and the green Robes make their settlement. I’d like to think my characters have some of the Aussie spirit in their courage and sense of adventure. Their unwillingness to bow under the threats of the Company and the way they keep fighting.At the same time, I think all of these things are universal. I’d like to think I’m not so different to my American friends and my stories are accessible no matter where you are from.Thanks again for having me.


FREEDOM COMES WITH A PRICE.
Free from the spaceship and reunited with Samuai, Asher should be happy. But thoughts of her dead family weigh heavily on her mind.
Things worsen when temper problems in camp lead to a murder. When Asher volunteers to get the drug need to calm people down, tension ignites.
Loyalties are questioned.
Jealousy rears its head. Sparks fly.
And when rumor of a second ship hits close to home, all bets are off.
Have the aliens returned? Is this the end of everything Asher has ever known?
Add it on Goodreads Amazon | Kobo | Chapters|Google Play | iBooks| TBD
ABOUT BOOK 1: LIFER
The Bourne Identity meets Under the Never Sky in this intergalactic tale of love and deception from debut novelist Beck Nicholas.
Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents' crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident.
Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem—the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.
On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing.
But sometimes the past is better left buried. As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out—everyone has been lied to...
 Add it on GoodreadsAmazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Chapters| IndieBound | Google Play | BAM| iBooks

I always wanted to write.  I’ve worked as a lab assistant, a pizza delivery driver and a high school teacher but I always pursued my first dream of creating stories. Now, I live with my family near Adelaide, halfway between the city and the sea, and am lucky to spend my days (and nights) writing young adult fiction.

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