P.D. Workman's Blog, page 146

Teaser from “Stand Alone” #teasertuesday

I haven’t blogged anything since last Teaser Tuesday! I have been busy with Camp Nano, and life has been very disrupted by my son’s football schedule (which is pretty much 2.5 hours every day of the week…) I was toying with whether to skip the teaser this week, and jump into my NaNo novel (now over 33,000 words), but I decided to take just a couple minutes anyway.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

“Stand Alone” is nearing publication date, hopefully next week. It is a young adult novel, and the description is below. Be sure to also watch the trailer! No link to Amazon yet, as it is still pre-release, but it is listed on Goodreads so you can add it to your “to read” shelf.

Here is my teaser:

She covered her face with both hands, sobs racking her body, and just let it all go. The dam had burst. There was no more keeping the water contained. Afternoon gave way to evening. The sobs stopped. The tears stopped. The pain did not. Her shirt was soaked in tears, snot, and drool. She didn’t care.

P.D. Workman, Stand Alone

 

Is Justine crazy?

Everyone thinks so.

Her mother. The kids at school, and the teachers and administrators too. Even the police who pick her up from her night rambles. Maybe them most of all. Justine’s therapist says she is ‘troubled’, but it means the same thing. He thinks that her vivid, reoccurring nightmares and atrocious behavior point to some trauma in her past; but Em, Justine’s mother, can’t explain it.Justine used to have Christian, her best friend and skateboard partner. He was the only one who accepted her. Maybe because skating is the only time that Justine is really free to be herself.

Now that Christian is gone… Justine keeps thinking things can’t get any worse.Even as she sees her life spinning further and further out of control, Justine can’t give up her sense of who she is—someone far different than the loving daughter Em expects her to be—to just fit in and be happy. She is sure that Em secretly holds the key to who Justine really is. But if she does, Em isn’t talking.

Camp NaNo begins! and a Teaser from the Book Thief #teasertuesday

(Scroll down for Teaser Tuesday)

I just noticed that this is my 49th post. My half-century is coming up!

Today is April 1, and for die-hards like me, April 1 means Camp NaNo! You can look at my previous posts about NaNoWriMo to get an idea of what Camp NaNo means to me, but here it is in brief: write a 100,000 word novel in 30 days. I love participating in NaNoWriMo and in Camp NaNo, which runs both April and July (previously, April was Script Frenzy, and I participated in that too.) Both Looking Over Your Shoulder and the upcoming Stand Alone were written for Camp NaNo last year. (Take a peek at the descriptions and shiny new trailers.)

So this morning I was out of bed bright and early, excited to type the first words on my new NaNo novel, tentatively “Once Bitten, Not Shy”. No, it is not another vampire story. The biters in this case are snakes, and here is a concept cover:

I’ve got a good 3,000 word start on it today (it is now noon local time), and need to finish this post so I can get back to it. So, on to Teaser Tuesday.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

I’m not sure yet what I think of the books I have started this week, so I’ll give you a teaser from one that I finished just recently, “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak.

Here is my teaser:

I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race – that rarely do I even simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant…I AM HAUNTED BY HUMANS.

Markus Zusak, The Book Thief

“The Book Thief” is pretty popular these days. Some people love it, some people don’t. You can see my review on Goodreads.

Description and link to Amazon:

The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that is now a major motion picture, Markus Zusak’s unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

Pre-Release Trailer for “Stand Alone”

Did you wonder whether I could do it or not? Well, I did–I created 4 trailers in four weeks. One for each of my published books, and one for “Stand Alone”, scheduled to come out in April. So without further ado, here is my newest trailer, for “Stand Alone”:

Syren teaser #TeaserTuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

Having finished Septimus Heap Book Four: Queste, by Angie Sage, we are now on to Septimus Heap Book Five: Syren. We love the Septimus Heap series, and did you know that Angie Sage is soon launching a new series, TodHunter Moon?

Here is my teaser:

(That evening Aunt Zelda boiled the soup and had it for supper. At the time she thought the flavor much improved by the extra day it spent sitting on the stove, and it was only afterward that it crossed her mind that maybe spider eggs had something to do with it. She went to bed feeling somewhat nauseous.)

Angie Sage, Septimus Heap Book Five: Syren, Kindle page 26

Description and link to Amazon:

In this fifth book in the Magykal series, Septimus ends up on a captivatingly beautiful island, one of seven set in a sparkling sea. He’s stranded there with his badly injured dragon, Spit Fyre, along with Jenna and Beetle. There are some strange things about the island, including a Magykal girl named Syrah, a cat-shaped lighthouse that has lost its Light, and an eerie presence that sings to Septimus—can he escape the persistent call?

Trouble is also brewing for Lucy and Wolf Boy, who have become entangled with some nefarious sailors at sea, and for Milo Banda, Jenna’s father, who is harboring a mysterious treasure chest in his ship’s hold.

Charismatic storyteller Angie Sage continues Septimus Heap’s Magykal journey with more laugh-out-loud adventures, more enchanting charms and spells, and an ever-deepening understanding of the interior life of a young hero.

Trailer for “Ruby”

Three trailers in three weeks!

Here is the newest one, for “Ruby, Between the Cracks“.

Maybe I’ll have one for you next week as a pre-release teaser for “Stand Alone“! It would probably be a good idea to get it done before Camp NaNo begins April 1, at which time I’ll be even more busy…

Goodreads Giveaway for “Deviation”

Want to get a free, autographed copy of “Deviation, Breaking the Pattern“? Watch the trailer, read the synopsis, and sign up on Goodreads.

 

Teaser from “Looking Over Your Shoulder” #teasertuesdays

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

I have featured both Ruby and Deviation in Teaser Tuesday before, but I have not yet done a teaser for “Looking Over Your Shoulder“. So, I will open up my MS file and pick a random scene:

His eyes opened, and he stared at Ursula without moving a muscle.

“Hi, sweetie,” she whispered. “Do you know where you are?”

“Crazy, not stupid,” he dead panned.

P.D. Workman, Looking Over Your Shoulder,  page 106

Intrigued? I have published a trailer for “Looking Over Your Shoulder“, and the cover and synopsis are included below.  It is on sale for just $0.99 on Smashwords this week, in honor of the debut of Ruby.

 

Just because you’re paranoid, that doesn’t mean someone isn’t out to get you.

Things were going well for Abe.  Despite all of his past struggles with mental illness, he was happily married, had three wonderful children, a nice home, and a fantastic consulting business that satisfied his creativity and brought in a good income.

But you can never get too comfortable.  When Abe becomes a prime suspect in a jewel heist – one of the largest successful jewel heists in history – his schizophrenia becomes unmanageable and everything begins to spiral out of control.  Abe’s own investigation into the heist has the jewel thieves hot on his tail… but are they really, or is he just losing the battle against his inner demons?

“I was drawn in from the first page and couldn’t put Looking Over Your Shoulder down . . . [it] kept me guessing and on my toes.”

“An exciting ride that keeps you guessing right to the end.”

“. . . a sensitive and uplifting look at one family’s efforts to triumph over the adversity of mental illness.”

Trailer for “Deviation, Breaking the Pattern”

Trailers are kind of fun to create! I hope you enjoy watching them too. Here is a new one for Deviation, Breaking the Pattern.

Deviation, Breaking the Pattern now on Smashwords! #SampleSunday

Deviation, Breaking the Pattern is now available on Smashwords!

I uploaded it late this morning, and just now when I checked my Smashwords dashboard to see if there were any errors in uploading and converting, I see that samples have already been downloaded. Cool!

So if you are looking to read Deviation ePub, pdf, rtf, etc., head on over to Smashwords to buy it.

In honor of the Smashwords release, I thought I would post an excerpt for #SampleSunday. It’s not Sunday yet here, but it is in parts of the world, and I’ll schedule this for a retweet when it actually is Sunday morning here.

_______

Bobby had been fussing for a while before Henry finally managed to fully rouse himself from sleep. He stumbled to his feet, rubbing his sticky, sleepy eyes with his palms. He turned on the night-light and patted Bobby soothingly on the back.

“What’s the matter, Bobby? You hungry?” he questioned softly. He noticed how red the baby’s cheeks were. “You teething, bud?”

Henry rubbed Bobby’s back in slow circles, seeing if he would settle. Bobby continued to sob and fuss. Henry left him in the crib and shuffled out to the kitchen. He blearily prepared a bottle.

“Can’t you shut that kid up?” Clint demanded, stalking into the kitchen.

“He’s teething,” Henry said tersely, struggling to screw the top onto the bottle, but it kept getting cross-threaded.

“I said to shut him up!” Clint repeated.

“I’m trying!”

Clint aimed a kick at the back of Henry’s knees. Henry was still half asleep, and both knees buckled. The bottle went flying, a pool of milk spreading across the floor. Henry swore, staggering to his feet.

“What did you do that for?” he protested. He knew he’d made a mistake the minute the words left his mouth, and threw up his hand to protect himself. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean—”

Clint raised his hand, eyes calculating. He backhanded Henry powerfully across the cheek, throwing him to the floor with the force.

“Don’t you ever back-talk me!” he shouted.

Henry’s mother came into the kitchen, pulling her tatty housecoat shut across her thin body, tying it messily.

“Clint, leave him alone. Go back to bed,” she said quietly.

“I have to sleep,” Clint griped, “Can’t have that baby keeping me awake all the time.” He headed back to the bedroom. “You’d better make sure he cleans up in there.”

“He will,” Dorry assured him. “Go on.”

Clint shut the bedroom door. Dorry reached down and helped Henry to his feet.

A World Without Heroes (Beyonders) #teasertuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along!

We have enjoyed Brandon Mull’s “Fablehaven” series, and I finally got around to starting on his “Beyonders” series. So, from the first book, “A World Without Heroes“, here is my teaser:

“I would not blame either of you for being reluctant to adopt this quest as your own,” the Blind King avowed. “You were both drawn here by forces beyond your understanding.”

Brandon Mull, A World Without Heroes (Beyonders), Kindle page 97

Don’t forget to take a look at my trailer for “Looking Over Your Shoulder“.

Description and link to Amazon:

Jason Walker has often wished his life could be a bit less predictable—until a routine day at the zoo ends with Jason suddenly transporting from the hippo tank to a place unlike anything he’s ever seen. In the past, the people of Lyrian welcomed visitors from the Beyond, but attitudes have changed since the wizard emperor Maldor rose to power. The brave resistors who opposed the emperor have been bought off or broken, leaving a realm where fear and suspicion prevail.

In his search for a way home, Jason meets Rachel, who was also mysteriously drawn to Lyrian from our world. With the help of a few scattered rebels, Jason and Rachel become entangled in a quest to piece together the word of power that can destroy the emperor and learn that their best hope to find a way home will be to save this world without heroes.