Bittersouls L.A. Morton-Yates

 

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BittersoulsL.A. Morton-Yates
Genre: YA Fantasy RomancePublisher: Synthesis PressDate of Publication: 12/17/2022ISBN: 979-8-9866022-0-2 (eBook) ISBN: 979-8-9866022-1-9 (Paperback)ASIN: B0BQFLM7D4 Number of pages: 286Word Count: Approx. 99,500Cover Artist: César Pardo
Tagline: A Shade. A Storm. A Soul.
Book Description:
Cursed with forbidden knowledge, 19-year-old Dela must hide her secret from her nomadic tribe or face exile into the frozen wasteland of the Bitters. When she becomes separated from her people during a blizzard, a mysterious and dangerous wanderer named Talon promises to help her find her way back to them. She quickly learns that nothing is what it seems, that her curse may actually be a gift, and that the Bitters are far more dangerous than she could have imagined.
Packed with unexpected twists, Bittersouls is a mixture of survival, adventure, and slow-burn romance that is sure to get your heart pounding.
Amazon

Excerpt:

Something moved at the edge of the horizon. Itwas like a shadow, black as a cloud but moving fast across the snow plain. Timeseemed to stop, but Dela could feel herself sliding forward as if she werestanding on a lake of ice. Freja was still yelling, but she couldn’t hear her.Her arms were flailing, but Dela hardly noticed.

A wave of lights moved in front of the thing,jumping and turning, quick as sparks. It was like a field of quails fleeinginto the sky before a coming wolf, but the wolf—the shadow—followed them. Thecloser it got, the more the shiver racked her spine. She knew exactly what itwas, though she’d never seen one. No one in the congregation had. There were nostories. No whisperings. Only a name.

“Shade.”

Freja stared at her, bewildered into silence.Perhaps she was going to speak, but then—

“Shade!” Dela reached for her friend, snatchingher by the sleeve and pulling her toward her. They ran, berries forgotten evenas the bags bounced in Dela’s grip. They were a dozen strides from the bushbefore she thought to secure them to one of her belt hooks. How could she eventhink of them at a time like this? They had to get to the camp. People had toknow.

They skidded to a stop at the edge of theoverhang they’d climbed. The tents were only a dozen feet below, and a handfulof people had gathered at the commotion. They stared up at the two girls withconfusion intermingled with irritation. They weren’t used to their eveningbeing disturbed by shouting, and the long journey had people’s nerves wornthin.

None of that mattered. All that mattered waswhat they would do. What were they supposed to do?

“Shade coming from the east!” Dela yelled. “Getthe Ministers!”

Chaos possessed the camp. People scrambled,yelling. Others just stood with disbelieving frowns. Some started running in noparticular direction. As if that would save them.

Would it?

Dela knew nothing about Shades. She hadn’t putmuch thought into what they might be or do or want. All she knew was thatwhatever that thing was, it was one of them. And the lights? The things it waschasing? What were they?

Freja was trembling as she crouched and threwher legs out over the edge of the rocks. It was a maneuver she’d done a hundredtimes, and in colder weather than this. But for fear or anger or nerves, hergrip failed. Dela lurched downward, chest striking hard against the rocks asher hand snapped out into the air—and caught her friend’s arm. She grunted asshe swung the girl toward the rock wall, which Freja caught in an instant. Theyexchanged an important glance, but there was time for little else.

Dela stood again, scanning the snowfield forsigns of the shadow. It was still gliding forth on nothing but empty air, likea nightmare in a dead sprint toward an innocent dreamer. But, she realized, itwas not heading straight for them. It had deviated, aiming toward the emptyfield north of them, and if it kept going that way, it might miss thementirely.

Could it see? It didn’t seem to have eyes. Norany other body part, per se. Did it smell, then? Or feel? How could it expectto find anything out here in the cold, white abyss of the Bitters?

Whatever rules it followed couldn’t be the sameas what humans or animals followed. It didn’t make any sense.

Then she saw the reason. One of thecongregation, maddened by fear, had made a break for it, out into the openBasin. The Shade wasn’t just going to miss the camp. It was going after him.

He’d made it a hundred feet from the camp, andshowed no signs of looking back or slowing. From the angle of approach, the mancouldn’t see the shadow coming. Couldn’t see it bearing down on him. Couldn’tsee the impossibility of his flight.

The Shade engulfed him as though it was littlemore than a localized fog. He vanished entirely from view, and for one bizarremoment, the beast of a cloud seemed to stop.

Thenthey heard the scream.

About the Author:
A life-long lover of the magic of storytelling, L.A. wrote his first story at the age of 7 and has been writing ever since. Speculative fiction, particularly fantasy, has always held a special place in his heart for the uniqueness of the places and the questions it can address. Though veiled by apparent strangeness, he has always seen it as capable of revealing deeper truth about our own reality.
L.A. graduated from Montana State University in 2015 with Honors in Biochemistry and a minor in Music Composition. This helped nurture his critical thinking and research skills which continue to be instrumental to his writing.  During his collegiate years, he also met the love of his life, Julie, whom he later married. At once his greatest supporter and his staunchest critic (when he is wrong, which is more often than he’d like to admit), she has been an integral part of his creative process ever since.
In February of 2018, L.A. became the father of his first son, Griffin. His second son, Tiber, was born in December of 2019 and his third son, Malachi, was born in January of 2022. Though life has become considerably busier since he became a family man, L.A. continues to work on writing in what little spare time he can find. He hopes to one day pass on his love of literature to his sons.
Twitter - https://twitter.com/lamortonyates
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