Sample Sunday! A sneak peek into That Crackling Silence, the...

Sample Sunday!  A sneak peek into That Crackling Silence, the sequel to This Brilliant Darkness:

Oblivion was nothing as she expected.

Waking from her cloudy slumber, she stretched and reached for Tom's warm body.

"Tom," she whispered.

The smell of him on her pillow, she turned in their bed to seek him, to see that smiling face. She would rub her fingers, her skin, her own face against his stubble, laugh and delight in the scratchiness of it, climb atop him as his strong arms encircled her.

"Tom," she said, opening her eyes. A brilliant burning light surrounded her. White and platinum and blue, like the star. "Tom?" she said again.

But Tom was gone.

Their bed was gone.

Christine was

Where am I?

gone.

Gone?

The question echoed in her mind, winking in and out of sense and meaning. The warmth she'd felt from the dream of Tom now drained from her, as the white light bore down, splitting open her consciousness.

"Where am I?" she fought to shout. "What is this place?" Her voice stopped, falling flat against the invisible wall of nothingness.

And then, she was nothing, drifting once again in some bright oblivion. A speck in a sea of nothingness.

Oblivion. Nothing.

Just as she'd expected.

This is a first draft, so the whole passage is subject to change, but I woke up from a dream with it one morning, and when dreams hand me that perfect of an opening line, it's not bloody likely to change.

If you'd like to experience This Brilliant Darkness so you, too, can give me input into this literary project, go pick up a copy at Amazon:

It's free 3/4/2012.

(If you don't do Amazon, fear not.  I'm releasing it back onto Nook, iTunes, etc. this week.)

I'm always interested in hearing what readers think—good, bad, or indifferent.  The story definitely seems to evoke a reaction, either way.

Are you on Pinterest?  Follow the This Brilliant Darkness pinboard to visualize the characters, and come along as I add images to the That Crackling Silence board for a few visual teasers/spoilers.