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When Parallels Collide #1
The Serpent Waits
Amy Monroe’s journalistic instincts told her something was wrong in Santa Brígida. The town had too many strange disappearances, mental breakdowns, and bizarre weather patterns. Yet none of these anomalies got much press coverage, let alone serious investigation.
Planning to write a career-making expose, Amy goes to Santa Brígida undercover to find out the truth. She suspects clandestine scientific experiments, but from the moment a key source disappears—together with the motel in which she met him—she realizes that what’s really happening may be stranger than she could ever imagine.
Striving relentlessly to uncover secrets, Amy runs the risk of discovering the truth—that some secrets should stay buried.
Planning to write a career-making expose, Amy goes to Santa Brígida undercover to find out the truth. She suspects clandestine scientific experiments, but from the moment a key source disappears—together with the motel in which she met him—she realizes that what’s really happening may be stranger than she could ever imagine.
Striving relentlessly to uncover secrets, Amy runs the risk of discovering the truth—that some secrets should stay buried.
442 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 8, 2019
14 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Bill Hiatt
33 books40 followersBill Hiatt has been teaching English at Beverly Hills High School since 1981--long enough for some of his current students to be children of his former students. (It's a good thing that doesn't make him feel old--much!) Bill also sponsored the high school's literary magazine from 1992 until June of 2012, which gave him the opportunity to work with a number of young aspiring writers.
Although teaching has been and remains Bill's first love, he has also been drawn to creative writing of various sorts. From high school on, he wrote short stories, a little poetry, and an earlier novel, finished in 1982. By that point, the increasing demands of teaching kept him from pursuing writing as actively as he would have liked, but his impulse to write continued to poke him from somewhere in the back of his mind. A few years ago a particular group of students inspired him to create grammar tests in the form of short stories, with the students themselves as characters. In some cases he got so caught up in the writing that he stayed up all night to finish the material. His students enjoyed the stories so much that they actually looked forward to grammar tests--and they scored higher on the semester grammar final than any of his previous classes! Their response to his writing made Bill wonder if there was a way to find time to write and still be the kind of teacher he wanted to be.
Another force pulling Bill in the direction of writing has been (ironically) teaching, particularly his consistent advice to students to get outside their comfort zones and follow their dreams--advice he realized was somewhat hypocritical if he wasn't following it himself. After all, teaching, though certainly his most important dream, is well inside his comfort zone by now. Publishing, on the other hand, is a different kind of exposure, more scary in some ways and definitely outside his comfort zone. Authors, regardless of the genre in which they write, reveal much about themselves every time they publish; their work is a part of them, and maybe not a part that they have shared with other people before. Also, authors have to be willing to face rejection; regardless of the nature or quality of a book, not everyone is going to like it. Despite the risks involved, Bill eventually realized he needed to follow his own advice if he really wanted his students to follow it. After that, he squeezed in a little time to write each day, and eventually he finished another novel. He hopes his readers will enjoy reading his work as much as he enjoys creating it, and he hopes that his example may encourage more of his students to push themselves a little to get what they really want out of life.
Although teaching has been and remains Bill's first love, he has also been drawn to creative writing of various sorts. From high school on, he wrote short stories, a little poetry, and an earlier novel, finished in 1982. By that point, the increasing demands of teaching kept him from pursuing writing as actively as he would have liked, but his impulse to write continued to poke him from somewhere in the back of his mind. A few years ago a particular group of students inspired him to create grammar tests in the form of short stories, with the students themselves as characters. In some cases he got so caught up in the writing that he stayed up all night to finish the material. His students enjoyed the stories so much that they actually looked forward to grammar tests--and they scored higher on the semester grammar final than any of his previous classes! Their response to his writing made Bill wonder if there was a way to find time to write and still be the kind of teacher he wanted to be.
Another force pulling Bill in the direction of writing has been (ironically) teaching, particularly his consistent advice to students to get outside their comfort zones and follow their dreams--advice he realized was somewhat hypocritical if he wasn't following it himself. After all, teaching, though certainly his most important dream, is well inside his comfort zone by now. Publishing, on the other hand, is a different kind of exposure, more scary in some ways and definitely outside his comfort zone. Authors, regardless of the genre in which they write, reveal much about themselves every time they publish; their work is a part of them, and maybe not a part that they have shared with other people before. Also, authors have to be willing to face rejection; regardless of the nature or quality of a book, not everyone is going to like it. Despite the risks involved, Bill eventually realized he needed to follow his own advice if he really wanted his students to follow it. After that, he squeezed in a little time to write each day, and eventually he finished another novel. He hopes his readers will enjoy reading his work as much as he enjoys creating it, and he hopes that his example may encourage more of his students to push themselves a little to get what they really want out of life.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 16, 2019
THE SERPENT WAITS is the first novel by Bill Hiatt that I've read, but it's certainly not going to be the last I read of this prolific author. THE SERPENT WAITS is a glorious combination of magic, magical realism, fantasy, and even science fiction and legend and mythology, drawing on a vast number of cultural legends across the globe. There's all you've heard of and very likely some you haven't! Amy is an investigative reporter in L.A. who receives a tip about a ti small community called Santa Brigidia, located near Santa Barbara, California. On the surface it seems to be a Utopia, but according to the terrorized informant, people disappear, the weather behaves bizarrely, and it's all due to one woman, a philanthropist and developer named Carrie Winn. When Amy gets approval to investigate, she goes "undercover" and applies for employment, only to discover that her worldview no longer applies, to anyone at Santa Brigidia nor even to herself. This is a stay-up-all-night-to-finish story.
YA/NA oriented but entertaining and enlightening for us older folks too!
YA/NA oriented but entertaining and enlightening for us older folks too!
February 24, 2019
Synopsis:
Investigative Journalist Amy knows something’s wrong in the little California town of Santa Brigida. When her source and this hotel he was staying in both disappear right in front of her she goes undercover to expose the nefarious secrets of the town’s benefactor.
Review:
Long and drown out, with lots of “telling” instead of “showing.” It’s the Scooby Doo Detective Agency meets Percy Jackson, but strangely predictable and full of eye-role worthy “coincidences.”
Investigative Journalist Amy knows something’s wrong in the little California town of Santa Brigida. When her source and this hotel he was staying in both disappear right in front of her she goes undercover to expose the nefarious secrets of the town’s benefactor.
Review:
Long and drown out, with lots of “telling” instead of “showing.” It’s the Scooby Doo Detective Agency meets Percy Jackson, but strangely predictable and full of eye-role worthy “coincidences.”
May 27, 2022
where is Dan?
Dan is nor included in this series. He may have a part in 2 or 3 chapters but after he’s just forgotten even Umbra is kinda like a side note to this series. That’s the problem with too many characters in a story.
I still recommend this book.
Dan is nor included in this series. He may have a part in 2 or 3 chapters but after he’s just forgotten even Umbra is kinda like a side note to this series. That’s the problem with too many characters in a story.
I still recommend this book.
August 30, 2024
A roller coaster ride from start to finish
The party bounces from cliffhanger to cliffhanger as they try to get back home from an alternate dimension. Will they ever finish off the endless waves of evil people chasing them?
The party bounces from cliffhanger to cliffhanger as they try to get back home from an alternate dimension. Will they ever finish off the endless waves of evil people chasing them?
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews