Evernight Teen: DEBUT NEW RELEASE: BREED by Niki Cluff

A comet is set to destroy Earth, but Kyle Singer is determined to survive. Tired of being treated like a second-class citizen thanks to her perfect brother, Kyle doesn’t think twice when offered the opportunity to attend an academy formed to stop the comet. It’s not like there’s going to be much left after the comet hits, anyway.

She's drugged, shipped off to the school, and thrown into a relationship with Ichiro Seung-hun, an exchange student from South Korea. The school isn’t just about stopping the comet. It’s a breeding program for after the comet hits and wipes out the human race. Terrified of becoming a baby-making factory, Kyle and Ichiro will do whatever it takes to escape. Evernight Teen: DEBUT NEW RELEASE: BREED by Niki Cluff: NOW AVAILABLE! 

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Hi everyone. It's been awhile.... This is one scary plot. One of the characters is from the Asia Pacific, a part of the world wracked with uncertainty and havoc today. I am surprised that more authors haven't introduced characters from this region.

Internationally, those in the U.S. are easily a flight away from South Korea, where most speak some English at least. The culture and people of that region are no doubt beautiful, but as with any race, there is always a dark side. Not sure if the bad guys are from the Asia Pacific, from here, or both (read and find out), but it sure strikes my imagination. I wish Niki the best of success! May sales reach the moon and over.

I believe we read these stories, among other reasons, to explore the dark side of human nature and to find some commonality with a people unlike ourselves. When I researched Malaysia and Thailand (including Hawaii) I discovered a seedy world of drug trade, human trafficking, and smuggling, with sadly, ties to the mainland U.S., but I also discovered in the mix, the goodness of people, as this author has with Kyle and Ichiro.

I invite you to explore Niki's debut novel and also my own Evernight Teen novel: The Shells of Mersing, which is set in Hawaii, Malaysia and Thailand.

Happy reading!!  

 
AUTHOR, THE SHELLS OF MERSING

RELEASE DAY!! GOAL! THE SHELLS OF MERSING is HERE!

 Finish line. Made the Goal. Here at last. The Tortoise won the Race. The Big Tuh-duh!!   

SERIOUSLY, this is a big deal. My FIRST work of fiction published. HOLY MOLY!!

Party anyone? NOT. I'm a writer. I hole up in my office and play with words. That's what writers do. I never did learn how to party.

Butfor being here to Celebrate with me.

Okay, enough chatter. This is THE SHELLS OF MERSING'S big day. Callie is dying to tell her story and I'm going to let her take it from here ....

"I have a gun frozen in my hand, and a scream welling up inside. No one would believe me in a million years if I told the truth..."

25% off for two weeks starting today at Evernight Teen. Also available on Amazon. Print copies available in August. Pop on over and take a look and give me a CHEER. I'm over the moon, doing cartwheels, releasing balloons, filled to the max excited!!

Blurb:

When notorious Uncle Azman disobeys his boss’s orders, and sends Callie and Lucas to meet their mother's long lost family in Malaysia, fourteen-year-old Callie Davis believes their troubles are over. After all they've endured, what more could go wrong? Their American dad is dead, Mom is missing, and their foster dad in Seattle was murdered, with Callie falsely accused. If that wasn't enough, Callie stowed aboard a sailboat with her eight-year-old brother to escape, only to be targeted by their uncle’s boss in Hawaii upon arrival for immediate sale in Thailand’s human trafficking market. Disguised in Muslim dress, in case Azman’s boss sends someone after them, Callie believes it’s simply a matter of time. They need to find safety with family in Mersing and begin the search for Mom, but a shell box, a ruby, and a boy from Chicago named Sam are about to change everything.  

More Fun Facts at Author Page  

 

Celebrate the Small Things: Photos of Bangkok's Floating Market

Well, it really is true. We write what we know and experience in life, and our stories are richer by far when we do. I'm celebrating a memory and the inspiration behind writing The Shells of Mersing. 

My husband and I spent nine wonderful months living in Malaysia in 1995-96. Our trip to Thailand was one of the highlights. Here are some photos of the Floating Market in Bangkok. It was fun popping my characters into this setting. 
 

Celebrating another Cover Reveal for The Shells of Mersing...... over at Tamara Narayan's blog.  Thanks, Tamara!!

Check it out and ALSO Tamara's new book!

One collection, four stories, 171 pages of suspense...

Heart Stopper: The disappearance of random household items baffles Dallas Radner and his eleven-year-old daughter, Tessa. Ten plastic bags, nine ballpoint pens . . . what's next? This odd countdown should end on November 1, The Day of the Dead. That's also Tessa's birthday and the one-year anniversary of her surgery, the day her heart stopped on the operating table....

Happy Weekend

Everyone!

"Come celebrate with us" 
To join "Celebrate the Small Things, visit Lexa Cain's blog
Co-hosts are: L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge 
Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits Blog

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

Weekly Recap: Finding Time to Write

Hi, Another busy week. I've been trying to increase my writing output, not on the blog....but my novel. During the A-Z Challenge I read an interesting post on Stephen King's writing schedule and was favorably impressed. He writes 4 hours a day, which means he writes only 28 hours a week. I have since read variations of this schedule, but the idea stuck. Four hours a day......Can I do it?

 As it turns out, I can to some degree. I wrote 21 hours and 30 minutes last week, up from my average 11 hours. However, the plan failed over the weekend. I admit that weekends are precious to my husband and me. It is our playtime, catch-up time, church time, relax time, shopping time, and occasional 4-day travel weekend. I try to do bills, housework, gardening and other activities during the week. (It helps that I no longer need to work outside the home).   

So on Friday we went to Thai Ginger for dinner (phad with eggplant and tofu for me; chicken with peanut sauce for hubbie). We have been in love with Thai food for a long time. We first ate Thai Jasmine rice while living in Malaysia ('95-96). We thought it funny at the time that this rice was technically illegal to purchase in Malaysia, but everyone skirted the rule. We were later stranded on a Thai train over night (another train had crashed ahead of us!), where we were treated royally and served the best lemon grass soup and other Thai courses we have ever had!

Top: train that derailed and crashed on a track parallel to ours! 
Bottom: Vince and me.....safe and sound in Bangkok (1995)

  We also saw the new Star Trek movie over the weekend, Star Trek into Darkness. This movie is mostly for younger viewers, with lots of ear-popping loud action in 3-D, but we are hard core Star Trek fans. We accept any bone Hollywood is willing to give us, and the actors they have picked for young Kirk and Spock are well suited for the roles.

 We watched the original Star Trek in the 1970s. I still remember being concerned with my two young children watching this series. I issued a ban on all Star Trek viewing, which was then nixed by the family over time. Ha! The original series seems so innocent now. We also watch Star Trek (Next Generation) on Netflix during the week. Yep, we're hard core.

So, how about you? How was your week?

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing

What's the Next Big Thing?

Thanks author Mary Cronk Farrell for tagging me in the Next Big Thing Blog Hop! I have one Work In Progress . . .  

What is the working title of your book?

Shells of Mersing

Where did the idea come from for the book?

My husband and I lived in Kluang, Malaysia for nine months in 1995-96. I was volunteering at a local orphanage when I learned that one of the boys (7) had been rescued from domestic slavery. I was aware of human slavery, of girls mostly, but my shock level jumped to a new level. This was the little boy I had made yarn dolls with at Christmas time. I then learned that human trafficking and slavery did indeed exist in Malaysia and even more so in Thailand to the north. From this experience a story grew.

I began to ask a lot of what ifs. What if a Malay girl and her sister had been sold in Thailand? What if an American G.I. later met and fell in love with this girl, and took her to America as his bride? What if he then died and left his Malay wife alone with two children? Would she miss her family, especially her sister in Thailand, and try to rescue and bring her to America? And finally, what would be the fate of her children, if she disappeared in Thailand?........which is where my story begins.

The idea for the title came from my travels. We sometimes meandered up the east coast of Malaysia along the South China Sea. The views were incredible. We would stop to gather shells or just walk along the beaches. Mersing was the first stop, and I fell in love with the colorful boats in its fishing harbor and a section of beach. I decided to make Mersing the childhood home of my Malay mother, and the shells a special collection her daughter inherits.

What genre does your book fall under?

Adventure/Mystery, Young Adult fiction.

What actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

-Only two actors so far. They may be too old for the part, but I have always imagined Vanessa Hudgens as my main character Callie (15), who is half Malay; and Zac Efron for Sam (16), the American boy she meets in Malaysia.
-Lucas (8), Callie's brother (also half Malay), plays an important role, but I'm not familiar with younger child stars. He needs to be smart and confident.


(Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens; realitybyrach.blogspot.com)

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

After witnessing the murder of her Seattle foster dad, a teenage girl runs away with her eight-year-old brother and sets off on a journey to find their missing mother in Thailand and family in Malaysia.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

I hope to find an agent.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

One year. I have since written several drafts and changed the tense twice.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

To some degree the following:
-Patricia McCormick's Sold, the story of a thirteen year old girl from Nepal, who is sold into sexual slavery. (There is a tragic back story of human trafficking and slavery in my book that becomes a live threat to my main characters, Callie and Lucas).
-Wendelin Van Draanen's Runaway - Holly is abused by her foster dad. (My main character is afraid of her foster dad when he drinks, especially the night she and her brother run away).
-Heidi Ayarbe's Compromised - A father goes to prison and his motherless daughter is left to fend for herself, and ends up in an orphanage; She runs away to search for an aunt in New Mexico. (My main characters’ mother is missing and their father is dead; they are placed in a foster home and then run away to search for their missing mother and Malaysian relatives).

What else about your book might pique the reader's interest?

-Callie and Lucas stowaway on a large sailboat called the Meli Ann and cross the Pacific to Hawaii.
-The Mersing shells are stored in a wooden box with a beautiful dragon carving on top, but there is a secret compartment and much more in this "dragon box."

I'm tagging authors Catherine Ensley and Kim Harris Thacker.

Check out their Next Big Thing!

[This traveling blog started in Australia. Each author answers ten questions about his or her Work In Progress and "tags" one or more authors (up to five) to be The Next Big Thing]

Sharon M. Himsl

Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011. 
Published with Evernight Teen: 
~~The Shells of Mersing
 

Hey, That Just Isn't Right

Sometimes life kicks you in the shins and you want to stand up and raise a fist, yelling, "Hey, that just isn't right!" We stumble through and when it's all over, we are stronger and more resilient, or at least that is the hope. But sometimes the result is more permanent. A life is changed forever, or worse, a life is lost in its prime. It always seems to happen to the nicest people--the neighbor at the end of the block--the one with the barrel full of daffodils every spring, a teacher you remember loving so much, a kid that struggled in school and finally made it in the world . . . Tragedy strikes and they are snatched from our world here on earth forever. And when we finally catch our breaths, all we can say is, "Why?"

Sometimes it happens to someone or people we have never met before, but we relate to them on a human level. We grieve as a nation, as a community, and alone. This morning I read in the newspaper about a British couple I would never meet. They were living the life of their dreams, bicycling around the world and chronicling their journey in a blog called Two on Four Wheels. 

On Monday, they were struck and killed by a pickup truck in Thailand. The driver survived. Peter Root and Mary Thompson, both 34, lost their lives doing what they loved most, exploring the world on bicycles, a journey that had begun in 2011 (from Guernsey, in the Channel Islands). They had traveled through Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and China, and had plans to visit New Zealand next.

"They were camping wild, as they called it," said Jerry Root, father of Peter Root. "What helps me is to think of how happy they were with each other. They were leading the life they wanted to. It was the happiest, the most fruitful of lives." (Associated Press, 02-19-13)

I truly hope it was, and although they died tragically on a remote road in Thailand, I am almost certain they were in love with that beautiful country. It is sad we will never hear their impressions. Their last blog post had a photo of Cambodia, taken over a week ago. I include a photo from my own files of Thailand in 1995, in their memory.

 (Thailand - author's trip in 1995)

Copyright 2013 © Sharon Himsl