One Too
by Sherrie
Cronin
GENRE: Sci-fi/Fantasy
BLURB:
Telepathy
creates as many problems as it solves, as most of the members of the secret
organization x0 would admit. When new member Lola discovers another group of telepaths
with a completely different approach, those problems multiply at the speed of
thought.
Soon, Lola’s family
and friends are in danger. Lucky for her, she’s not your average budding
psychic. Each person with whom she is close has a special gift of their own.
That’s good, because it’s going to take every power they possess to keep this
other group from succeeding with their plan to eradicate x0.
Excerpt:
The lawyer invited Violeta to have a
seat in the plush grey leather guest chair in his top-floor office. He still
had his suit coat on, and he checked his phone for messages as his admin left
to get Violeta a cup of expresso. The combination of courtesy and rudeness was
intimidating in a way Violeta could not quite explain. She felt that it was
intended to be so.
“I see Warren often as I coordinate
with Gabriel and handle my other responsibilities here in New York. I just
talked to him earlier this morning. If he had something he wanted to tell me,
why didn’t he say so?”
The lawyer smiled. “He felt this
message was better conveyed in, um, a more formal setting.”
There was something cold behind the
smile and Violeta felt a flush of fear. This Monday morning was not starting
off particularly well.
The tiny cup of expresso was placed
quietly in front of her, and then the admin closed the door as she left the
office.
“Am I being fired?” she asked.
The man looked up from the device in
his palm.
“No, not today.”
There was the smile again. He
waited. She waited. He waited some more.
He doesn’t know how well I can play
this game, Violeta thought. She had just started to peak into his thoughts,
when he finally chose to speak.
“It’s very important to Mr. Moore
that he be able to trust all of his employees, particularly those, like you,
with whom he has personal contact.”
Violeta felt her insides turn
squishy. Had they discovered her contact with Lola? How?
“Over the weekend, Mr. Moore
received a rather disturbing report about you, and he has asked me to clarify the
situation.”
It took every bit of training
Violeta had to keep the panic off her face and the fear out of her eyes.
“It regards your mother.”
“My mother?”
“Yes. We understand that she works
part time for the police department in your hometown in Argentina. Is that
correct?”
Violeta allowed herself to exhale
very slowly.
“It is. She’s worked there ever
since my father was killed in 2000. She does clerical work. Why would Warren
care?”
The lawyer pursed his lips.
“Mr. Moore is building a rather extensive
office complex in Ushuaia. He’s chosen to keep this development quiet for now,
as I’m sure you know.”
“Of course. I’ve heard about it from
my family. To the best of my knowledge it’s no secret there. Was I not supposed
to talk to my mother about it?”
“Talking to one’s mother is fine.
Suggesting to one’s mother that one will spy on their employer is not.”
“I did no such thing!”
As soon as Violeta said it, she
realized that she kind of, sort of, had.
“I mean I was just, you know,
humoring her. She gets a little, I don’t know, excited about things some
times.”
The lawyer nodded, and Violeta felt
the emotional temperature in the room go from freezing to merely chilly.
“That’s what Mr. Moore hoped was the
case. Nonetheless it does present him with a slight problem. The Ushuaia chief
of police understands that Reel News, and our Argentine subsidiary CNA, do not
wish for publicity regarding the construction of this facility. A formal
announcement about it will be made to employees and to the public at large,
when Mr. Moore feels that the time is right. He needs to be absolutely sure
that you are on board with this.”
“Of course I am,” Violeta said.
“I’ve said nothing to anyone in New York. It was apparent that Warren preferred
discretion on this.”
“Excellent. I’m happy to hear that.
Unfortunately, there are those in Ushuaia who feel that your mother is not
showing the same good sense.”
Violeta fought the urge to squirm.
“She has become somewhat of a focal
point for unfounded local suspicions. People in small towns do tend to amuse
themselves with gossip, don’t they? Mr. Moore has decided that he has no choice
but to ask the chief of police to dismiss your mother and any other locals
showing a similar lack of discretion. He wanted me to ensure that you
understood why.”
“I see.”
Violeta knew that getting fired was
going to devastate her mom, who relied on her job for far more than money.
“Is there anything I can do prevent
this?”
“Not really, no. The remaining
question is whether two members of your family need to lose their jobs over
this. Does Reel News have your absolute loyalty?”
“Of course they do.”
She said it without thinking.
“Good.”
He stood as he answered, pushing a
small button in his desk, and gestured to the door. It opened on cue, and
Violeta understood that she was being dismissed.
AUTHOR Bio
and Links:
Sherrie grew up in Western Kansas thinking
that there was no place in the universe more fascinating than outer space.
After her mother vetoed astronaut as a career ambition, she went on to study
journalism and physics in hopes of becoming a science writer.
She published her first science fiction short
story long ago, and then waited a lot of tables while she looked for
inspiration for the next story. When it finally came, it declared to her that it had to be whole
book, nothing less. One night, while digesting this disturbing piece of news,
she drank way too many shots of ouzo with her boyfriend. She woke up thirty-one
years later demanding to know what was going on.
The boyfriend, who she had apparently long
since married, asked her to calm down and
explained that in a fit of practicality she had gone back to school and
gotten a degree in geophysics and had spent the last 28 years interpreting
seismic data in the oil industry. The good news, according to Mr. Cronin, was
that she had found it at least mildly entertaining and ridiculously
well-paying The bad news was that the
two of them had still managed to spend almost all of the money.
Apparently she was now Mrs. Cronin, and the
further good news was that they had produced three wonderful children whom they
loved dearly, even though to be honest that is where a lot of the money had
gone. Even better news was that Mr. Cronin
turned out to be a warm-hearted, encouraging sort who was happy to see
her awake and ready to write. "It's about time," were his exact
words.
Sherrie Cronin discovered that over the
ensuing decades Sally Ride had already managed to become the first woman in
space and apparently had done a fine job of it. No one, however, had written
the book that had been in Sherrie's head for decades. The only problem was, the
book informed her sternly that it had now grown into a six book collection.
Sherrie decided that she better start writing it before it got any longer.
She's been wide awake ever since, and writing away.
Giveaway:
$25 Amazon or B/N GC
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7 comments:
congrats on the the tour and thanks for the chance to win :)
Thanks, Avid Reader, for hosting me! Hi Lisa -- thanks for following along :)
Great post, I enjoyed reading it! Thanks for sharing :)
Glad you enjoyed it Victoria and thanks for commenting
This book sounds like something I'd really enjoy reading, thank you for sharing!
I love this cover & an interesting excerpt thank you.
Glad you became such a successful and talented writer! I have always found telepathy to be such a fascinating talent. I definitely provides for some suspenseful fiction.
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