More to these twins than meets the eye
Tomorrow you'll be able to read an interview with Karen Wyle, author of Twin Bred, on my blog. Just to get you in the mood, Karen's letting me post an excerpt today, so read on and enjoy...
Twin-Bred
By Karen A. Wyle
Caninterspecies diplomacy begin in the womb? After seventy years on Tofarn, thehuman colonists and the native Tofa still know very little about eachother. Misunderstanding breed conflict, and the conflicts are escalating.Scientist Mara Cadell's radical proposal: that host mothers of either speciescarry fraternal twins, human and Tofa, in the hope that the bond between twinscan bridge the gap between species. Mara lost her own twin, Levi, in utero, butshe has secretly kept him alive in her mind as companion and collaborator.
Marasucceeds in obtaining governmental backing for her project – but both the humanand Tofa establishments have their own agendas. Mara must shepherd theTwin-Bred through dangers she anticipated and others that even the canny Levicould not foresee. Will the Twin-Bred bring peace, war, or something elseentirely?
Amazon(Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005VDVHQ2
Amazon(POD): http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bred-Karen-Wyle/dp/1463578911/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
NookStore: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twin-bred-karen-wyle/1106674642?ean=2940013311077&itm=1&usri=twin%2Bbred ;
Smashwords(various ebook formats): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94490
CreateSpace(paperback): https://www.createspace.com/3541557
Excerpt:
The human colony onTofarn and the indigenous Tofa have great difficulty communicating with andbasically comprehending each other. Scientist Mara Cadell is running a projectwhere host mothers carry twins, one human and one Tofa, in the hope that thebond between twins can bridge the gap between species. Alan Kimball, a memberof the governing human Council, is hostile to the Tofa and has inserted agentsinto the project.
Excerpt #1 from Twin-Bred
Tilda looked at her twins, cuddled close together inthe crib. Mat-set had all four arms wrapped around Suzie. They seemed to cuddleany chance they got. Maybe they were glad to be free of separate amniotic sacs.She looked down at Mat-set and remembered the rumorsof Tofa with five arms instead of four. She had even seen pictures, but whoknew whether they were authentic. Certainly none of the Tofa Twin-Bred babieshad been born with extra limbs. Tilda glanced over at the big dormitory clock and thenback down at the babies. She gasped and staggered a step back. Mat-set wasstill holding Suzie with four arms. So how was he scratching his head withanother one?Tilda looked around wildly for a chair, found oneblessedly nearby, and sank down on it. She pinched herself. Nothing changed. Well,who said you couldn't pinch yourself in a dream and keep on dreaming?She got up and walked, a bit unsteadily, to theintercom and buzzed for a nurse. Then she went back to the crib. Of course.Four arms, only four, and what was she going to do now?She decided to be brave and sensible. If she hadreally seen it, the staff had to know. And if she hadn't, and she didn't wakeup, then she was ill, and she should get the help she needed.
The chief nurse tucked Tilda in and watched her driftoff to sleep, sedative patch in place. Then she went back to her station andcalled up the monitor footage on Tilda's twins. Well, well.
* CONFIDENTIAL * CLEARANCE CLASS 3 AND ABOVE
LEVI Status Report, 12-15-71Executive Summary
AnatomicalDevelopments
Observation of the Tofa infants has shed some light onthe longstanding question of whether the number of Tofa upper appendages isvariable among the Tofa population. The thickest of the four armlike appendagesis apparently capable of dividing when an additional upper appendage isdesired. . . .
Councilman Kimball bookmarked the spot in his agent'sreport and opened his mail program. He owed an apology to the young man who hadclaimed his poor showing against a Tofa undesirable was due to the sudden appearanceof an extra appendage. Apparently the man had been neither dishonest nor drunk.After discharging that obligation, Kimball made a noteto seek further details as to the divided arms' placement, reach, and muscularpotential. His people needed adequate information to prepare them for futureconfrontations. After all, forewarned — he laughed out loud at the thought —was forearmed.
About the Author
Karen A. Wyle long bio
Karen A. Wyle was born aConnecticut Yankee. Her father was anengineer, and usually mobile for that era: she moved every few years throughout her childhood and adolescence. After college in California, law school inMassachusetts, and a mercifully short stint in a large San Francisco law firm,she moved to Los Angeles, where she met her now-husband, who hates L.A. They eventually settled in Bloomington,Indiana, home of Indiana University. Shenow considers herself a Hoosier.
Karen's childhood ambitionwas to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn thatsome British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9. She finished that novel nonetheless,attempted another at age 14, and then shifted to poetry. She made a few attempts at short stories incollege, and then retired from creative writing until starting a family in hermid-30's inspired her to start writing picture book manuscripts. She produced startlingly creative children,the elder of whom wrote her own first novel in 2009, at age 18, with the helpof NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Intrigued, Karen decided to try NaNo in 2010. She completed a very, very rough rough draftof her science fiction novel Twin-Bredand spent the next ten months editing it. She is self-publishing Twin-Bredwith a rollout date of October 15, 2011 -- her older daughter's birthday.
Karen's principal educationin writing has been reading. She hasbeen a voracious and compulsive reader as long as she can remember. Do not strand this woman on a plane withoutreading matter! Karen was an English andAmerican Literature major at Stanford University, which suited her, althoughshe has in recent years developed some doubts about whether studying literatureis, for most people, a good preparation for enjoying it. Her most useful preparation for writingnovels, besides reading them, has been the practice of appellate law -- inother words, writing large quantities of persuasive prose, on deadline, yearafter year. Whereas in college, a 3-pagepaper would require hours of pacing the dormitory hallway and pounding her headon its walls, she is now able to sit down and turn out words with minimalangst. She has one professional writingcredit, an article published in the Indiana Law Journal Supplement and, withminor modifications, in the monthly magazine of the Indiana State BarAssociation. This article was a"third place recipient" of the Harrison Legal Writing Award. Whatever that means, it comes with money, aplaque, and a free lunch.
Karen has completed a rough draftof a second novel, tentatively titled Reflections,which is general fiction. It has twoalternative elevator pitches: "Death is what you make it" and "Do you need courage in heaven?" She hopes to start the sequel to Twin-Bred later this fall.
Karen's voice is the productof almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although shehopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personal history has led her to focus onoften-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility ofcontrolling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.
Short Bio
KarenA. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington,Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier.Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn that someBritish upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9.
Wyleis an appellate attorney, photographer, political junkie, and mother of twodaughters. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading bothliterary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although shehopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personalhistory has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family,communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence ofunfinished business.
www.KarenAWyle.net
Twin-Bred
By Karen A. WyleCaninterspecies diplomacy begin in the womb? After seventy years on Tofarn, thehuman colonists and the native Tofa still know very little about eachother. Misunderstanding breed conflict, and the conflicts are escalating.Scientist Mara Cadell's radical proposal: that host mothers of either speciescarry fraternal twins, human and Tofa, in the hope that the bond between twinscan bridge the gap between species. Mara lost her own twin, Levi, in utero, butshe has secretly kept him alive in her mind as companion and collaborator.
Marasucceeds in obtaining governmental backing for her project – but both the humanand Tofa establishments have their own agendas. Mara must shepherd theTwin-Bred through dangers she anticipated and others that even the canny Levicould not foresee. Will the Twin-Bred bring peace, war, or something elseentirely?
Amazon(Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005VDVHQ2
Amazon(POD): http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Bred-Karen-Wyle/dp/1463578911/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
NookStore: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twin-bred-karen-wyle/1106674642?ean=2940013311077&itm=1&usri=twin%2Bbred ;
Smashwords(various ebook formats): http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94490
CreateSpace(paperback): https://www.createspace.com/3541557
Excerpt:
The human colony onTofarn and the indigenous Tofa have great difficulty communicating with andbasically comprehending each other. Scientist Mara Cadell is running a projectwhere host mothers carry twins, one human and one Tofa, in the hope that thebond between twins can bridge the gap between species. Alan Kimball, a memberof the governing human Council, is hostile to the Tofa and has inserted agentsinto the project.
Excerpt #1 from Twin-Bred
Tilda looked at her twins, cuddled close together inthe crib. Mat-set had all four arms wrapped around Suzie. They seemed to cuddleany chance they got. Maybe they were glad to be free of separate amniotic sacs.She looked down at Mat-set and remembered the rumorsof Tofa with five arms instead of four. She had even seen pictures, but whoknew whether they were authentic. Certainly none of the Tofa Twin-Bred babieshad been born with extra limbs. Tilda glanced over at the big dormitory clock and thenback down at the babies. She gasped and staggered a step back. Mat-set wasstill holding Suzie with four arms. So how was he scratching his head withanother one?Tilda looked around wildly for a chair, found oneblessedly nearby, and sank down on it. She pinched herself. Nothing changed. Well,who said you couldn't pinch yourself in a dream and keep on dreaming?She got up and walked, a bit unsteadily, to theintercom and buzzed for a nurse. Then she went back to the crib. Of course.Four arms, only four, and what was she going to do now?She decided to be brave and sensible. If she hadreally seen it, the staff had to know. And if she hadn't, and she didn't wakeup, then she was ill, and she should get the help she needed.
The chief nurse tucked Tilda in and watched her driftoff to sleep, sedative patch in place. Then she went back to her station andcalled up the monitor footage on Tilda's twins. Well, well.
* CONFIDENTIAL * CLEARANCE CLASS 3 AND ABOVE
LEVI Status Report, 12-15-71Executive Summary
AnatomicalDevelopments
Observation of the Tofa infants has shed some light onthe longstanding question of whether the number of Tofa upper appendages isvariable among the Tofa population. The thickest of the four armlike appendagesis apparently capable of dividing when an additional upper appendage isdesired. . . .
Councilman Kimball bookmarked the spot in his agent'sreport and opened his mail program. He owed an apology to the young man who hadclaimed his poor showing against a Tofa undesirable was due to the sudden appearanceof an extra appendage. Apparently the man had been neither dishonest nor drunk.After discharging that obligation, Kimball made a noteto seek further details as to the divided arms' placement, reach, and muscularpotential. His people needed adequate information to prepare them for futureconfrontations. After all, forewarned — he laughed out loud at the thought —was forearmed.
About the Author
Karen A. Wyle long bio
Karen A. Wyle was born aConnecticut Yankee. Her father was anengineer, and usually mobile for that era: she moved every few years throughout her childhood and adolescence. After college in California, law school inMassachusetts, and a mercifully short stint in a large San Francisco law firm,she moved to Los Angeles, where she met her now-husband, who hates L.A. They eventually settled in Bloomington,Indiana, home of Indiana University. Shenow considers herself a Hoosier.
Karen's childhood ambitionwas to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn thatsome British upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9. She finished that novel nonetheless,attempted another at age 14, and then shifted to poetry. She made a few attempts at short stories incollege, and then retired from creative writing until starting a family in hermid-30's inspired her to start writing picture book manuscripts. She produced startlingly creative children,the elder of whom wrote her own first novel in 2009, at age 18, with the helpof NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). Intrigued, Karen decided to try NaNo in 2010. She completed a very, very rough rough draftof her science fiction novel Twin-Bredand spent the next ten months editing it. She is self-publishing Twin-Bredwith a rollout date of October 15, 2011 -- her older daughter's birthday.
Karen's principal educationin writing has been reading. She hasbeen a voracious and compulsive reader as long as she can remember. Do not strand this woman on a plane withoutreading matter! Karen was an English andAmerican Literature major at Stanford University, which suited her, althoughshe has in recent years developed some doubts about whether studying literatureis, for most people, a good preparation for enjoying it. Her most useful preparation for writingnovels, besides reading them, has been the practice of appellate law -- inother words, writing large quantities of persuasive prose, on deadline, yearafter year. Whereas in college, a 3-pagepaper would require hours of pacing the dormitory hallway and pounding her headon its walls, she is now able to sit down and turn out words with minimalangst. She has one professional writingcredit, an article published in the Indiana Law Journal Supplement and, withminor modifications, in the monthly magazine of the Indiana State BarAssociation. This article was a"third place recipient" of the Harrison Legal Writing Award. Whatever that means, it comes with money, aplaque, and a free lunch.
Karen has completed a rough draftof a second novel, tentatively titled Reflections,which is general fiction. It has twoalternative elevator pitches: "Death is what you make it" and "Do you need courage in heaven?" She hopes to start the sequel to Twin-Bred later this fall.
Karen's voice is the productof almost five decades of reading both literary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although shehopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personal history has led her to focus onoften-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility ofcontrolling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.
Short Bio
KarenA. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington,Indiana, home of Indiana University. She now considers herself a Hoosier.Wyle's childhood ambition was to be the youngest ever published novelist. While writing her first novel at age 10, she was mortified to learn that someBritish upstart had beaten her to the goal at age 9.
Wyleis an appellate attorney, photographer, political junkie, and mother of twodaughters. Her voice is the product of almost five decades of reading bothliterary and genre fiction. It is no doubt also influenced, although shehopes not fatally tainted, by her years of law practice. Her personalhistory has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family,communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence ofunfinished business.
www.KarenAWyle.net
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