Just off the Path
by Weston
Sullivan
GENRE: Fantasy
BLURB:
Hansel never asked to be a
hero. He never wanted to fall in love with Rapunzel, Queen of the East. He
didn’t ask to be raised by Gothel the Wretch, and he certainly never wanted to
be credited for her arrest. But more than any of that, Hansel never wanted to
lie: but he did. He lied about everything. He thought that he was done with it
all when he and his sister Gretel retreated into the woods to reclaim their land,
but he should have known better.
Hansel needs to find a way to fix this, otherwise
he will be responsible for Grimm’s destruction, or that is what he thinks. As
Hansel isn’t the only liar in Grimm.
Excerpt:
The
Girl in the Red Cape
My
rude brother’s name is Hansel,” Gretel
said, pushing her way past a particularly thorny vine. “And I’m Gretel.”
“How
am I rude?” Hansel asked, his voice sharp. He wasn’t in the mood to argue.
Their hunt was fruitless, and it was cold enough that his breath rushed from
his nostrils and plumed into the air above his head. “I saved her life, didn’t
I?”
The
girls walked ahead of him, Ceara only steps ahead of Gretel. Every few seconds,
she stopped to gather her bearings. They were fast friends; Hansel knew Gretel
was intrigued by Ceara’s fearlessness. She walked the thickets as if they were
a second home to her, leaving Hansel behind to worry about the things that hid
in the darkness. He kept his bow drawn. It felt as though the briar was pulling
him back and with each step he took, he could feel the thorns prick his skin,
snag his clothes, like Grimm itself was assaulting him. Touching the thorns was
unavoidable. His skin was on fire after the first few steps, and tiny pools of
blood formed all over his body. Gretel was bleeding, too. But not Ceara, since
her cloak shielded her from the thickets.
Gretel
shoved her elbow into his ribcage. “It’s rude not to introduce yourself.”
“It’s
rude to call someone else rude,” Hansel retorted. To his relief, he saw the
light of the moon streaking through the overgrowth ahead. The three of them
shimmied their way through the final layer of hanging briar and back into the
woods. Hansel sucked in a breath of air. It tasted clean, crisp and cold,
instead of stagnant and sour. Leaving the thickets was like taking a plunge
into the river on the hottest day in summer. His muscles loosened and he strapped
his bow on his back. They weren’t home, but they were safe.
They
walked in silence for a few minutes, until they could see The Path. When they
passed a tall tree, Ceara stopped and placed her palm on its trunk, admiring
it. And when they reached a particularly tall tree, she stopped.
“Have
you ever wondered why the trees shed their leaves in the winter?” she asked. “I
don’t know about you two, but when it starts to get cold, I put more clothes
on. I certainly don’t get naked and stand in the middle of the forest.” Her
thought was interrupted by the sound of hooves in the distance.
Hansel
squinted, looking off into the distance. Before he saw anything, Ceara tackled
him to the ground. He mumbled an angry demand for explanation, but Ceara
shushed him, pointing.
Five
horses raced across the worn trail that cut through the wood. The horsemen were
spots of light in the gray-brown haze of early winter. They wore gold and
white—the colors of the Eastern region, Rapunzel’s territory. When they passed
in front of him, he noted their tunics were dirty and their swords drawn. After
they disappeared behind a wall of pale trees, he stood and brushed himself off.
“Why
did you do that?” he asked.
Ceara
shook the leaves from her cloak. “They’re tracking The Wolf.”
“So?”
Hansel asked.
“You
don’t want them to spot you anywhere near him,” Ceara replied. “All three
regions are out for his head.”
“We’re
friends of Rapunzel,” Hansel said. “She knows we hunt here. No harm would come
to any of us.”
Ceara’s
eyes widened emphatically. She closed her cloak over her bodice, her wicker
basket producing the illusion of pregnancy. “It doesn’t matter.”
Gretel
stepped between them, taking charge of the conversation. “Why are all three
regions after him?”
“They
think he’s the one who’s committed all the murders,” Ceara said. She leaned in
close, even though there wasn’t another soul in sight.
“Murders?”
Gretel asked.
“You
haven’t heard?”
The
word murder made Hansel cringe. He felt cold and vulnerable with it floating in
the air around him. “We need to keep going. It will be dark soon.”
The
girls followed him, but they hunched over like housewives in the market square,
gossiping among themselves.
“What
murders?” Gretel repeated.
“There’ve
been murders all across Grimm for weeks. Close to twenty of them, at least!”
“I
have no words.” Gretel shook her head. “There’s never been anything like this
in Grimm. Not since…”
“Gothel,”
Ceara finished her sentence. “I know.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
After graduating with a BA in Creative Writing from the
University of South Florida in 2017, Weston Sullivan moved to New York City to
live and write in the heart of the industry. In late 2016, he began working as
an intern in the submissions department of BookFish Books. His short story,
"On the Hillside", won the Anspaugh Award for Fiction in February of
2017, and his novel, JUST OFF THE PATH, is due for release in early September.
He likes to believe that he
is in charge of his own destiny, but at the end of the day, he knows that he
was born to serve his two beloved cats.
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Giveaway:
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8 comments:
I enjoyed reading the excerpt and learning more about your book. Congrats on the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
I really like the book cover.
Congrats
Thanks for sharing!
A great concept.
I find it quite interesting the way you incorporate well known characters in a differnt way
Book sounds intriguing. Adding to my TBR list.
I enjoyed reading the excerpt it's fantastic! Congrats on the tour and thanks for the giveaway!
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