Whereafter
Afterlife
Book 3
Terri Bruce
Genre: Contemporary fantasy/paranormal
Publisher: Mictlan Press
Date of Publication: March 15, 2016
ISBN: 9780991303649
Number of pages: 345
Word Count: 100,000
Formats available:
Paperback and all ebook formats
Cover Artist: Shelby Robinson – artwork
Jennifer Stolzer – layout and design
Book Description:
How Far Would You Go To Get Your Life Back?
Stuck in the afterlife on an island encircled by fire and hunted by shadows bent on trapping them there forever, Irene and Andras struggle to hold onto the last vestiges of their physical selves, without which they can never return to the land of the living. But it’s not just external forces they’ll have to fight as the pair grow to realize they have different goals. Irene still clings to the hope that she can somehow return to her old life—the one she had before she died—while Andras would be only too glad to embrace oblivion.
Meanwhile, Jonah desperately searches for a way to cross over to the other side, even if doing so means his death. His crossing over, however, is the one thing that could destroy Irene’s chances of returning home.
Too many obstacles, too many people to save, and the thing Irene most desperately wants—to return to her old life—seems farther away than ever. Only one thing is clear: moving on will require making a terrible sacrifice.
Excerpt:
Andras grunted,
the sound filled with suspicion. Irene bent down to tie her shoelace, as much
to avoid eye contact as anything. When she straightened up, something in the
distance caught her eye, shimmering like a mirage. She squinted, not sure she
was really seeing what she thought she saw.
“You know, now
might be a good time for you to tell me what it was like to live in a castle,”
she said.
Andras shook his
head, sadly, as if Irene had disappointed him. “You cling too much to the past.
Forget the trappings of life. Free your mind from these longings, and so, free
your soul. Only then will we be able to escape these shackles and enter Heaven
to rest at the side of God.”
Why did he always
have to argue about everything? “For God’s sake,” she said, exasperated, “just
answer the question!”
“Wherefore?”
Irene pointed to
the hulking structure in the distance. “Because,” she said as Andras whirled
around to see what she was pointing at, “correct me if I’m wrong, but that
looks like a castle.”
“Wow!” Irene said,
her eyes roving over the dark, crenellated structure hulking in the far
distance. It gleamed dully, the color of burnt blood in a fading afternoon sun.
“What the hell do you think that is?”
Andras grunted.
“As you said—Hell.”
Irene frowned at
him, but her lips quirked in amusement. “Why do you have to be so negative? It
could just as easily be Heaven. God is supposed to live in a palace, right—the
whole ‘my father’s house has many rooms’ thing? A castle is just a type of
palace.”
Andras gave her a
dry look. “Does that look like Heaven?”
Irene was on the
verge of agreeing that the castle did not in any way look how she imagined
Heaven when it shimmered, as if the fading sunlight had been redirected by
mirrors. Light rippled across the castle’s surface and the dull, dark,
burnt-blood color transformed into gleaming, bright, silver-white. Crisp white
pennants flapped from the corners as if whipped by wind. Irene thought she
could hear them snapping crisply.
Irene looked at
Andras, and he looked at her. His expression made it clear that he had seen the
same transformation she had. It was as if the building was trying to trick them
into coming closer.
About the Author:
Terri Bruce has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember and won her first writing award when she was twelve. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats. She is the author of the Afterlife Series, which includes Hereafter (Afterlife #1) and Thereafter (Afterlife #2) and several short stories including “Welcome to OASIS” (“Dear Robot” anthology, Kelly Jacobson publisher) and “The Well” (“Scratching the Surface” anthology, Third Flatiron Press).
Website/Blog: www.terribruce.
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.
Twitter: @_TerriBruce
Question to the author: Who are some of your favorite authors that you feel were influential in your work? What impact have they had on your writing?
ReplyDeleteGood question! I think the authors that have been most influential have been ones writing cross-genre books that combine fantasy or science fiction elements with literary fiction - books like Neverwhere, Peony in Love, The Night Circus, The Sparrow, and The Time Traveler's Wife. Those are the kinds of things that I write, but until recently, books were supposed to be either clearly literary or clearly genre. Seeing the rise of amazing books that are cross-genre, and to see "genre" books on best seller lists and in the "main stream" section of the bookstore shelves gave me a lot of courage to go ahead and write what I wanted to write without worrying about fitting into a particular box or place on the bookshelves.
DeleteBest of luck to you and your book.
ReplyDeleteWhat advice do you have for aspiring writers?
Oh man, that's so hard... it's like asking what kind of diet advice you have for someone. The problem is that everyone's challenge and situation is unique. Some aspiring writers need to focus on improving their technical skills - plotting, pacing, characters, grammar, punctuation, dialog, etc. Some writers need to learn how to develop the discipline to write a coherent story and/or to finish the stories they start. Some writers need to gain the confidence to show their writing to other people. Some writers need to learn more about the business side of writing in order to pursue publication. Etc. So it's hard to give "one size fits all" advice. If I HAD to give advice, I guess I'd say join a writers' group so you have support and people who can help you develop in the areas you need to develop. It's hard to do that alone.
DeleteCongratulations, Terri! I'm excited to be part of your Whereafter Blog Tour!
ReplyDeleteOh this book sounds so good! I have a feeling I would not want to put it down! Question...your first award you won at age 12...what was that story about?
ReplyDelete