Welcome to Sortilege Falls
by Libby
Heily
GENRE: YA
Fantasy
BLURB:
Sixteen-year-old
Grape Merriweather moved to Sortilege Falls expecting a fresh start and new
friends. But things are never quite what they seem in this sleepy Missouri
town. Her math teacher looks like a witch, her school is being stalked by a
vampire, and Grape could swear the town’s garden gnomes are moving. None of
that compares to the small group of teenage models, blessed with otherworldly
beauty, who rule Sortilege Falls. Even the adults are powerless to tell them
no. When the models fall ill from a mysterious disease, all of the town’s
secrets start leaking out. Grape is determined to help her new friends, but
searching for the cure might just get her killed.
Excerpt:
Grape Meets the Models:
Grape’s entire body stiffened as she
looked up from her phone. Five of the most beautiful people to ever walk the
earth stood scattered around two Porsches. Did I walk into a photo shoot?
“I mean, gross.”
The words came from an impossibly
beautiful girl. Loose, raven-black locks fell over her shoulders, the tips
lingering above her full bosom. Grape could almost hear the sizzle and static
of her electric blue eyes. The sun had kissed the girl’s skin lightly, leaving
a glow that made the air around her shimmer. Her pouty, pink, full lips begged
to be kissed, though the guy standing behind her, his arm draped over her
shoulder protectively, warned off all who would be so bold.
The boy behind her, if anything, was
even more handsome than she was beautiful. Muscle stacked upon muscle until his
clothes had no choice but to hug every inch of his body. His dark eyebrows and
strong jaw lent him a tough look, one that was backed up by the playful anger
in his eyes.
The raven-haired goddess turned and
embraced her beau, her face tucked away into the heat of his chest. He sat
propped up on the hood of a yellow Porsche, the sleek lines of the car offset
by the disdain on his face. They were so incredibly, delightfully gorgeous that
even though he looked as if he had seen a cockroach instead of a human being,
Grape’s heart still melted at the sight of them.
“I think she’s in love.”
Grape snapped her gaze away from the
Adonis with the nasty temperament and turned toward the twin boys standing in
front of a black Porsche. Her eyes bounced between the two, taking in every
perfect feature. Flawless, rich, dark brown skin. Sparkling hazel eyes. Muscles
so tight that you could bounce a quarter off their abs, or arms, or anywhere on
their bodies, really. They looked as perfectly engineered as the cars they
stood by. But it was their lusciously long eyelashes that sent Grape swooning.
Men were not meant to be this pretty.
“Leave her alone, guys.”
Grape’s head spun. Each person she
saw was more beautiful than the last, and the redheaded girl standing off to
the side was no exception. The baggy jeans and generic T-shirt she wore did not
detract from her creamy skin and full lips. Her large brown eyes fascinated
Grape—red flakes glimmered from inside each caramel-colored orb.
The air felt charged with a million
volts. Her thinking grew cloudy. Were these angels? Was she daydreaming? How
did anyone get to be this beautiful? She could sense their hostility, but
something inside her felt warm and gooey. Snap to, Grape, she told herself.
They want to hurt you.
“Awww, look. It likes us,” the twin
with the goatee said. The clean-shaven twin’s face softened. Was that pity she
saw in his hazel eyes?
“Stop being mean,” the redhead said,
sounding more bored than angry.
“I’m not being mean. Where’d you buy
that shirt?” Goatee asked. His quiet tone was laced with thorny edges.
Grape swallowed hard. The fuzz
inside her head abated. Focus, she told herself, feeling like an idiot. “I
don’t know. Kohl’s maybe.” She glanced down at her blouse. The shirt was a
birthday present from her mother, and she wasn’t sure where it came from, but
since her mother did most of her own shopping at Kohl’s, it seemed like a
pretty safe guess.
Goatee turned toward his brother and
smiled. “Pay up.”
Clean-Shaven shook his head at her
as if she’d named the wrong store on purpose. He pulled a thick wad of cash
from his pocket, peeled off a twenty, and handed it to Goatee. “I was sure it
came from Kmart.”
“Why does it matter where I bought
my shirt?”
The raven-haired girl glanced out
from her hiding place in her boyfriend’s embrace. “It just looked familiar. I
wore the same shirt. Three years ago.” She smiled, but there was no kindness
when she bared her teeth. “Before it was a knockoff.” The girl hid her face
against her boyfriend’s pecs. Their chests rose and fell at the same time,
breathing as one.
“Okay. Well, I don’t really buy
designer clothes.” Grape wanted to have a witty comeback, but she still wasn’t
sure where the insult lay. Did they or did they not like the shirt?
What the hell is wrong with me? Of
course they’re making fun of me. Why aren’t I angrier?
“She means she modeled the design,”
the redheaded girl said, cutting her eyes to the couple.
“You’re a model?”
The brothers snickered. “Pretending
she doesn’t know who we are, that’s so cute. Is that the new fad amongst the
Normals?” Clean-Shaven asked.
“I don’t understand anything you
just said.” Grape felt completely out of her depth. This was the school parking
lot, but she might as well have been on Jupiter.
The redhead took a step toward
Grape, shooting a nasty glance to the others crowded around the cars. “Don’t
worry about it. They’re just teasing.”
“I thought about modeling.” Grape
hadn’t meant to say that, but no one else spoke, and she felt like she had to
say something. Her skin grew hot. She knew she was was blushing beyond red and
into crimson mode. She’d practiced runway shows off and on in her bedroom since
she was twelve, but she had never told anyone she wanted to be a model. Ever.
“Ow,” Grape cried, only then
noticing that she had twisted her ring so hard it was actually cutting into her
finger. A tiny drop of blood oozed out and fell to the pavement below.
“Aren’t you a little fat to be a
model?” the boyfriend asked. His voice sounded like pure honey even when he spoke
acid.
“You think I’m fat?” Grape stared
down at her flat tummy. No one had ever called her fat before. There was still
a bit of room in the waistband of her size four skirt.
“I’m just saying you could stand to
lose a few pounds, unless you want the runway to collapse.”
“Ouch, Adam.” Clean-Shaven punched
the boyfriend playfully on the arm.
Goatee winked at Adam. “My boy calls
it like he sees it, and he sees a chunky monkey.”
“I’m well within my weight range.”
She could feel her voice growing high-pitched. Damn nerves. These people were
jerks.
“Of course you are, you look great,”
the redhead told her. “These guys just don’t how to joke around without being
completely mean.”
“We aren’t joking,” Adam said,
giving his girlfriend a quick kiss on the top of her head.
Goatee pulled out his car keys. He
turned his back on Grape, tired of their new toy.
“Whatever. Class is about to start.
Are we skipping or staying?”
“Skipping,” the raven-haired girl
peeked out to say.
Adam looked Grape over and made a face as if
he’d smelled something terrible. “Yeah, I think I’m done for the day, too. I
feel the need to hit the gym.”
She rubbed her hands over her
stomach but it still felt flat like normal. What were they seeing that she
wasn’t?
“The shirt looks nice on you,”
Clean-Shaven said before climbing into the driver’s seat of the black Porsche.
“Like a muumuu on a water buffalo,”
Goatee added and hopped into the driver’s seat of the yellow Porsche. The
couple got into the back of his car and huddled close together.
“Mandy, you coming?” Goatee asked.
“No, I have a test,” Mandy, the
redhead, said. “I’ll see you later.”
“Suit yourself.”
Grape waved stupidly at the drivers
as the engines revved. You look like a goober, she told herself, but she could
not stop waving.
“Move.” Mandy grabbed Grape by the
arm and pulled her toward the sidewalk.
Grape tried to shake her arm free,
but Mandy’s grip was surprisingly strong. “Let go of me.”
Mandy stared at her with an
I-told-you-so look as the Porsches sped off, right through where Grape had been
standing.
“Oh my God, were they going to run
me over?”
“Not on purpose. I’m sure they just
forgot you were there once they started their cars.”
“How?”
Mandy shook her head. She stared
after the Porsches as they pulled into traffic and sped away. Finally, she
turned back to Grape and offered her an apologetic smile. “Sorry about that.”
“Which part?”
“All of it, I guess.”
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
I
was born during a blizzard. I’m told it was pretty cool but I have no memory of
that time. I grew up in two tiny towns in Virginia and spent most of my
twenties moving around the US. I’ve lived in Virginia, Florida, Missouri, and
Washington. I’ve settled down, for now, in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I’m
a writer and improviser. I studied acting in college but spent more time
rewriting lines than memorizing them. My first play, Fourth Wall, was produced
my junior year. Since then, I’ve written several full length plays, one acts
and screenplays. I started writing fiction in my late twenties. Now, I focus
mainly on novels but still dabble in theater.
Fun
facts about me: There are none. I’m sorry to disappoint you so soon. But, I do
love to read, write, and run. My hubby is my favorite person on earth. Dogs are
my second favorite. All dogs. I love orange juice, especially when it’s mixed
with club soda. Carbonation is better than alcohol. Jaws is my favorite movie.
Everything I’ve said so far is true.
Awards:
Puschcart
Prize Nomination for “Grow Your Own Dad” – Published by Mixer Publishing
Semi-finalist
Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference – “STUFF”
Honorable
Mention The Ohio State Newark New Play Contest – “The Last Day”
Contacting
Libby:
Email:
libbyheilyauthor@gmail.com
Snail
Mail:
PO
Box 58251
Raleigh,
NC 27616
Libby on the Web:
Purchase Links:
Behind the Scenes
Info:
“Welcome
to Sortilege Falls” is my second novel. My first, “Tough Girl” was about an
eleven-year-old who is slowly starving to death and loses herself in an
imaginary world to combat the misery of her life. I wanted to write something
happy after that and WTSF is about as “happy” as my writing gets. The idea was
to come up with a main character whose very name sounds like a smile, thus
Grape Merriweather was born. Stories grow and writers hardly ever end up
writing the book they intended. That is definitely true with WTSF. My “happy”
story grew to encompass the themes of beauty worship, celebrity, as well as
delving into the mysterious relationships between child stars and their
parents. In the beginning of the novel, Grape is new at school and eager to
impress. She was popular back home and has never had trouble making friends.
She spends over an hour the night before trying on outfits and picking the
perfect one for her first day. But she is ignored by students and teachers
alike. Everyone is too caught up with the beyond gorgeous models to bother with
one new student. We discover this weird world along with Grape and I tried to
stay true to her voice. It was very important to me that Grape wasn’t perfect,
that she partially fell under the Models’ spell as well.
Giveaway:
$10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC
Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better
your chances of winning.
3 comments:
Thanks for hosting! The book is currently free on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords!
The ebook is absolutely free right now! Thanks for hosting. I wonder if any of your readers have had encounters with celebrity/beauty worship?
A great excerpt thank you.
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