Quintina
(The Starseed Series #2)
by Meghan Riley
Genre: YA Sci-fi
Release Date: 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
No longer on Earth, Anna must now piece together her memories on the strange, new world of Enki. Guided by Julianus, the mysterious man who brought her back, she soon realizes this isn’t the same world she was starting to remember, making it even more difficult to figure out why she was sent to Earth. Will she be able to solve the mystery before the people who sent her away realize she’s back? Or will her memories forever remain lost?
by Meghan Riley
Genre: YA Sci-fi
Release Date: 2016
Summary from Goodreads:
No longer on Earth, Anna must now piece together her memories on the strange, new world of Enki. Guided by Julianus, the mysterious man who brought her back, she soon realizes this isn’t the same world she was starting to remember, making it even more difficult to figure out why she was sent to Earth. Will she be able to solve the mystery before the people who sent her away realize she’s back? Or will her memories forever remain lost?
Other Books in Series
The Starseed Series on Amazon:
Chapter
1
Awakening
A steady, low pitched hum radiated from above and pulled me out of the
darkness. I rolled over to my side, buried one ear in the soft pillow I laid
on, covered the other with my hand, and prayed for it to go away. Whatever it
was – my brother, a neighbor – I didn’t care. All I wanted was sleep. Lots of
sleep.
But the sound didn’t go away. My attempts to block it only seemed to
make it louder, like voices echoing down a tunnel. I tucked my hands under my
head and told myself to ignore the sound, to focus on the blissful feeling that
came from being on the edge of slumber.
But I couldn’t. My senses were uncontrollable. I tried to reign them
back in, but it was too late. I became increasingly aware of my surroundings.
An annoying chill stretched up my legs from my feet. I promptly drew
them toward me banging my knees against something cold and hard. I gasped and
squinted firmly against the pain, letting out a groan. The room…it didn’t smell
right. It smelled like a…shower curtain.
I rolled over and opened my eyes. Something clear like glass hung low
and distorted the dark ceiling above me. Confused, I reached out and touched
the barrier, sliding my hand across it from where it met the white padded bed I
laid on to the slick curve it made over me like the lid of a coffin. This
wasn’t the thin, flat glass of a window pane, but thick and molded. I followed
it with my eyes to the foot of the bed where it continued to surround me.
What the –?
I twisted my body and looked behind me, toward the source of the
humming. It was coming from a large white case attached to the head of the bed.
When the doctor was trying to figure out the source of my hallucinations, he
put me in an MRI machine about this size, but it wasn’t as large. I stared at
it trying to process what I was seeing, but the longer I lay there, the more it
felt like the glass was closing in around me.
As I reached up with both hands and gently pushed on the glass, the
long sleeves of my plain white shirt slid down my forearms toward my shoulders.
It held firmly in place.
I ran my hands along the seam between the barrier and bed trying to
feel for a latch or button, but there was nothing. I once again reached up with
both hands and pushed, harder this time. The glass refused to budge. My
heartbeat quickened. I’m trapped!
I looked down at my white pants and bare feet. What am I doing here? I thought back over the last 24 hours. It was
fuzzy, but it was starting to come back to me – stargazing, Jared, Doctor
McCormick, Steve, the shadow man…some hazy images of space. Is it true? Did I really travel to another
planet?
The sound of a voice broke my train of thought. The glass acted like a
conductor, making it resonate around me. I couldn’t understand exactly what was
being said, because the language was none I had ever heard before, but I could
tell it belonged to a man and he was angry.
Through the distortion of the glass at my feet, I noticed something
moving. Focusing on that end of the room, I could just make out a gray door
with a window. It was closed, but someone was standing in front of it. Their
body blocked part of the white light that was passing through the window. I was
sure they were the source of the voice. Their shoulders rose at the climax of
each angry sentence and it occurred to me, whoever they were, there was a
chance they were hostile.
With both hands, I hit the glass full force. It lifted off the bed a
little, which was just the encouragement I needed. I hit it again. It gave a
little bit more and fell back into place.
I hit it again and again and again. All my emotions from the memories
of Jared, Dr. McCormick, Steve, and my family came flooding out of me.
I pounded the glass until my knuckles split open and tears streamed
down my face. Then, surprisingly, the glass slid back behind me. When I blinked
away the tears, someone was standing in front of me.
“Quintina?” It was the man with the blue eyes I had seen when I first
arrived. Now, fully awake, I saw I was wrong: he wasn’t the man I had seen in
my visions on Earth. He had the same blue eyes, thick angular brow, and
close-cut brown hair, even the same chiseled jaw, but the mouth was wrong. It
was smaller and carried a permanent hint of disapproval at its corners, not the
teasing of a playful grin. And the nose didn’t match. The ridge was bowed, like
it had been broken and never healed correctly, but it seemed fitting for the 5
o’clock shadow and general ruggedness that he seemed to encompass, a contrast
to the man in my visions, who was more refined and polished, like the gentleman
you’d find in a Jane Austen book.
Guest
Post:
10
Things I Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author
My
newly released book, Quintina, is the second book I’ve published. Like many, I
dove into publishing headfirst, not entirely sure what I was getting myself
into, but driven by my dreams of being published. Along the way, I’ve learned a
few things about publishing, not just from my own mistakes, but those of other
writers, as well. I want to share those lessons with anyone who may be
considering publishing a book.
1.
Writing
a book and publishing a book are two different things. You
can spend hours putting words to paper, but publishing a book requires
tenacity. It’s what gets you through hours of editing, formatting, graphic
design, and rejection. It requires you to be more than just a writer, because
you’re creating a product.
2.
Published
authors spend as much time learning about formatting and marketing as doing
research for their books. Be prepared to learn the technology behind publishing and
marketing, or be ready to pay someone else to do it for you. Even if you are
picked up by a traditional publisher, you’ll be expected to know social media
and other marketing outlets.
3.
Editing
is a necessity. I don’t mean going through your book a few times looking
for errors. I refer to a second party taking a close look at grammar, punctuation,
syntax, etc., possibly even fact checking. Too many writers skip editing or
have an unqualified friend do the work. As soon as you hit publish, you’re not
just putting your writing out there, but establishing a reputation. You want to
make a good first impression and a poorly edited book can follow you for years.
4.
Editing
is expensive. No, really. It’s EXPENSIVE. New writers are often surprised
by this, but you get what you pay for and a good editor can really help you to
elevate your writing (and help you improve your own skills).
5.
The
cover is very important. Investing in a professional cover designer can increase
your chances of getting a cover that will increase sales of your book, but
won’t guarantee it. I paid a professional to do the first cover of Anna, the first book in the Starseed
Series, but I wasn’t 100% happy with it. When I redid the cover myself, I sold
more books, but I did a lot of research and chose features from popular books
in my genre. Do your research and ask the opinions of others before you
finalize your cover.
6.
Packaged
deals may sound like a convenient solution, but they’ll cost you a good deal
more.
With my first book, I paid a service that handled everything from editing to
formatting. I paid about twice as much for editing than I should have. I also
got upsold on some services that had little bearing on the success of my book.
With the second book, I broke up those services. I took control of what I could
confidently handle (the cover and marketing pieces) and outsourced what I
wasn’t (editing and formatting). I saved a good deal of money.
7.
Book
review services are not worth the money spent. With
my first book, I paid for a service that advertised my book to a list of
reviewers. Those interested could request a copy of my book in exchange for an
honest review. I sent out a lot of copies. Only a fraction followed through and
some of those clearly stated in their reviews that they don’t usually read my
genre and didn’t really enjoy my book (so why did they request it?). I don’t
suggest going that route. Take the time to research bloggers and reviewers who
read your genre and contact them directly with a request to review your book.
8.
Brick
and mortar stores will not instantly warm up to you if you’re self-published.
There’s a general feeling that independent authors do not sell and stores are
constantly struggling to compete with companies like Amazon, so they have to
focus on the bestsellers. You’ll need to prove that you have a large enough
audience to make stocking your book worthwhile. It helps if you offer to do a
book signing or some other promotion to drive traffic to their store.
9.
One
book will not produce a significant
income, because published authors rarely make it big with their first book. So,
don’t write a book to get rich. You need to establish an audience first. The
sales of one book will fuel the sales of the others. The only exception may be
if you already have a large amount of followers on social media, a blog, or an
email list. Some bloggers with a strong following see significant success when
they publish a book in their niche.
10. Published authors need thick skins. This
may seems obvious, but until you start getting reviews, you don’t realize how
true this is. Not everyone will like your book…and that’s okay! No one is a
perfect writer. Heck, even Amazon will question the validity of your reviews if
all you get is 5 stars. Low reviews are expected at times. There’s no need to
worry about it unless that’s all you ever get.
If
you’re considering publishing a book, I highly suggest that you join a writer’s
group. You can learn some invaluable information from the other members,
including recommendations for editors and formatters. You can even round up
some beta readers. If you’re short on time, it doesn’t need to be a local
group. There are some good writing groups on Facebook. Here are some of my
favorites:
About
the Author
Meghan
Riley graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of
Maryland and immediately pursued her lifelong passion for the written word. Her
debut novel, Anna, presented itself as a way for Riley to inspire teenage girls
to expand their interests beyond the typical teenage quandaries, ultimately
encouraging females toward an interest in science. She is currently hard at
work on the next book in The Starseed Series.
Author
Links:
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1 comments:
awesome giveaway
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