Adamanta, Season 1 Episode 5
by T.Y. Carew & Ella Medler
by T.Y. Carew & Ella Medler
Showing posts with label SciFi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SciFi. Show all posts
Monday, October 30, 2017
Friday, May 20, 2016
Researching for THE SIXTH EVENT by Kristen Morie-Osisek @KPM223 @evernightteen @bloggerbees #amazongiveaway
We are thrilled to welcome Kristen Morie-Osisek and she's telling us about Reasearch with a guest post :)
Research:
One of the many fun things about writing science fiction is
the research that goes into it. Whether it be trying to figure out interstellar
travel, how humans would evolve living in space, or looking up what the
atmosphere was like 100 million years ago, learning new things is a lot of fun.
It can also be very sobering and informative as one learns about how humanity
is changing the climate to match what the Earth was like in pre-history.
For The Sixth Event, I had to do a lot of research into the
different extinction events throughout history, as well as learn about the
development of our own planet. It was a little tough trying to decide which
theories to go with for each extinction event, as well--after all, not every
researcher agrees on the final reason for the various extinctions, and the
actual events themselves were long-lasting developments, not instant events
(with the noted exception of the gamma ray burst theory during the Ordovician).
Even the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs caused species deaths over years as
species failed to adapt. Weighing all the evidence and deciding on what
cause to go with (and deciding which would be most entertaining!) was an
important part of writing the book.
Another really fun part of research was looking into all the
extinct animals. I tried to go with a few lesser-known ones, too as well as the
iconic ones. That’s why we have the triceratops, which a lot of people know
about, along with the quetzocoatlus, which fewer people know about but is a really
cool critter. It was the largest flying animal in history! I also liked the
dino-bird that Chris and Raquel saw—that was supposed to be an Aurornis, a
newly-discovered dinosaur that was one of the earliest birds. And Sir
Lizardton, of course, was a dimetrodon, which were part of a species of
mammal-like animals that pre-dated the dinosaurs. I wish I could have fit in
even more extinct animals, but there’s only so much space in the book, and I
wanted to keep the plot moving along. I had to put in mammoths though!
It was also fascinating to learn about the history of the
planet and see how it relates to events of today. Throughout history, the
atmospheric composition has changed over and over, and now humanity is changing
it again. Filling the atmosphere with carbon dioxide will have repercussions
for not only us, but many species on Earth. Climate change is a real threat for
how we live now, and learning about how the planet differed eons ago hammered
that home.
One of the working titles of the book was "Doomed to
repeat." Ultimately I decided that title was too dark, but the theme still
remains. If we can look back to the past, it will help us predict how our
future might change, and how we can prevent the worst.
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys The Sixth Event, and likes
being introduced to periods of Earth’s history that aren’t usually explored in
fiction!
* * * * * *
The Sixth Event
Kristen Morie-Osisek
Sci-Fi/Time
Travel/Romance/Suspense/Dystopian
Evernight
Teen Publishing/ 74K words
Eighteen-year-old Raquel isn't
eighteen anymore...
During Raquel's first semester
of college, she witnesses the end of the world, only to wake up in her old room
at her parents' house two years in the past. Even worse, it seems
she's the only one who remembers—until Chris Lyley, a boy Raquel always
thought was a loser, tells her he remembers the catastrophe.
Before long,
they both discover new abilities. They're able to understand any language and
teleport through time and space. If Raquel and Chris can figure
out what caused the end of their world, maybe they can stop it.
Excerpt:
My heart pounded as my white ceiling greeted me when I
opened my eyes.
I blinked
frantically, the vision of the rock hitting me still fresh in my mind, the
instantaneous crushing sensation throughout my body fading to a dull, residual
mental ache. Fear crashed and faded in a wave of relief when it all resolved
into the deep blackness of my dorm room.
That had been one hell of a dream.
I narrowed my eyes, still staring up at the ceiling. My dorm
ceiling was gray, not white.
I sat up and turned to the left expecting the glaring green
glow of my digital clock. Instead, I was greeted with the dim shape of a
dresser, outlined in the rosy hue of a rising sun.
My pink and white dresser at my parent’s house.
Shock spread through me, sending tingles down to my toes. My
bedroom was coming into view, not my dorm room.
A stuffed dog sat at the foot of my bed. Instead of the
giant glass window over the football field, my lace pink curtains fluttered in
a warm California breeze, a copy of Teen Vogue sitting on the sill.
I rolled over and stood, grabbing the magazine. Justin
Bieber smiled at me from the October 2010 cover.
Impossible. This was impossible.
“Elsie!” I shouted my roommate’s name. The magazine hit the
floor with a ruffle of pages. The plush, carpeted floor, not the hard tiles of
my room at college.
My comfy bed, complete with a feather mattress, took up the
same side of the room it always had. My computer desk sat at the far side of
the bed, the blocky Dell PC taking up most of the space. A life sciences
textbook lay next to it, the image of a tiger on the front coming into focus as
my eyes adjusted to the darkness. On the floor, my giant shoulder bag from high
school lay with papers strewn around it. I took a step closer, peering at the
letters, my heart pounding so hard I didn’t think to turn on the light.
High school biology notes. I had taken biology in my junior
year.
I fled, my door banging against the wall as I ran to the
bathroom, flicking on the light.
Elsie wasn’t here. I stared into the mirror of my parent’s
bathroom, at my frizzy brown hair. I didn’t look so different. A little bit
shorter, a little bit ganglier. No freshmen fifteen. I still had that annoying
pattern of three pimples that kept coming back on my chin.
But I was still younger. Not eighteen, not a college
student.
A girl in high school. High school. Again.
I stared in shock. This couldn’t be true. It must still be
part of the dream, part of the green sky and rocks hitting me. I blinked hard,
touching my nightgown, pinching my arm until I winced with pain.
“Mom!” I shrieked so loud I thought the mirror would
shatter. “Mom, Mom, Mom!”
My mother came rushing in, her robe pulled tightly around
her. “Raquel, what is it?” Her hair framed her face in an unruly brown cloud,
her eyes wide and face pale. “What’s wrong?” She was as scared as I was.
“What happened?” I shouted as I grabbed her. “What
happened?”
“What do you mean?” She pulled me out of the hug, looking
into my eyes. “Raquel, what is wrong? Are you sick?”
In the glaring bathroom light, I stared into her wide eyes.
She stared back at me, full of concern, full of worry for her daughter.
“The…I died. There were birds dying, and a rock hit me, and
I should be in college…” I babbled, and she shook her head, gripping me tight.
“Raquel, it was a nightmare. That’s all.”
“What’s going on?” My dad’s voice shouted from the dark
hallway.
“Nothing, dear,” my mother shouted back. “Raquel just had a
little night terror.”
“At sixteen?” Disbelief and exhaustion edged his voice. “Go
to sleep, Raquel,” he added, mumbling.
My heart pounded harder, even as I shut my mouth, looking
back into the mirror. The mirror in my parent’s house, where a sixteen-year-old
me stared back. My stomach flipped, then sank into my feet.
I was two years younger. The world was two years younger.
And no one else remembered anything.
Author
bio:
Kristen Morie-Osisek has always had a
fascination with the natural world. She is an academic by trade who specializes
in addiction research, but also has a healthy interest in geology and the
history of the planet. She focuses on writing science fiction and fantasy. The
Sixth Event is Kristen’s debut book.
Author
website: sfwrites.blogspot.com
Instagram:
KPauthor
Giveaway: $20 Amazon Gift Card
Thursday, April 28, 2016
#Inspiration for THE SEPARATION by @StormyRussell #Distopian #ScifiRomance @Evernightteen #AmazonGiveaway
I always love to know the 'story behind the story' if you will so Stormy has humored us and tells us how she came up with
The Separation !!
The Separation !!
Inspiration
for the book by Stormy Corrin Russell:
In 2011, I
was trying to put myself through college as a portrait photographer. Whenever I
wasn’t involved in school work, I was at the studio. There were all sorts of
clients, but I remember distinctly an appointment I had with a single mom and
her daughter, Charisma. Charisma was six, and at that age, it takes two
parents, a bear tamer, and some serious bribery to get through an hour-long
photoshoot. For her, though, it was totally different. She was the most
well-behaved kid I’d ever worked with, which blew my mind.
“It’s just
her and me,” her mom had told me. And this begged the question: what the heck
do we need men for?!
That led to:
what if there weren’t any? What if it was just us, all the women, secluded to
one side of the world.
And so, The
Separation was born. I originally even named my main character after
Charisma. That is, before I realized that she doesn’t actually possess
much charisma, despite being a strong and deserving role model.
* * * * *
The
Separation
Stormy
Corrin Russell
Evernight Teen, 83k words
Distopian, Sci-Fi, Romance
In a world where men and women live
on separate sides of a massive wall, seventeen year old misfit Eroyn Fairchild
has always been too busy with her broken family to wonder why they live
the way they do.
When a man
from the other side breaks through, Ero holds him hostage, hoping for a ransom
large enough to pay for her Elder Grace’s treatment. Things get more
complicated as the man is followed by two others who make Ero question
everything she’s ever known about her life.
As Ero
searches for the truth, the lines between right and wrong blur, leaving her to
choose between saving her city and saving herself.
Teaser:
One of the
things I love about Grace is that she is the heaviest sleeper I know. So heavy,
in fact, she doesn’t hear me dragging a thrashing body through the front door
at two in the morning. For the first time in my life, I consider it lucky that
we live on the outskirts of the north side. If we didn’t, I would never have
been able to get it this far without attracting attention. A loud,
confused sound starts to come from the net, so I kick it firmly.
“Shut up,” I hiss, looking around nervously. I’m not worried about Grace
rousing, but I don’t want the neighbors waking up and noticing my noisy cargo.
I kick twice more, as hard as I can. Silence, finally. With a sigh, I wipe my
arm across my forehead, getting rid of the sweat beading there. I sink down on
the couch, staring at the large lump inside the net on my living room floor
unblinkingly. Little red flowers are blooming all over the heavy white plastic,
and they grow quickly. It’s blood, I realize with a sick feeling. It’s seeping
through from the inside and leaking onto the clean white carpet of our house.
It can’t be real. It just can’t be.
I see Almond
cut across the room and sniff at the lump with caution. With one movement, I
scoop him up and press him to my chest in horror. For the first time, I realize
the danger of what I've just done. I’ve invited a monster into my house.
I’ve made a horrible, horrible mistake.
It takes
Luna ten minutes to get here five minutes faster than usual but it feels like
hours. She lets herself in the back door quietly, but I rush into the kitchen
to meet her.
“Where’s Grace?” she asks with urgency, dropping her medical bag on the kitchen
table.
“What? No, I … this isn’t about Grace,” I stutter. I open my mouth once, then
again, but it’s no use. Nothing is coming out, so I turn on my heel and tiptoe
into the living room. Luna wordlessly follows, eyeing the netted form. I kneel
next to it, holding my breath. With shaking hands, I slide the knife into the
plastic and pull it upwards slowly. I know what it’s going to reveal when I
pull the plastic away, but it still makes my breath leave my lungs in an
audible whoosh. I can’t seem to inhale again once it’s gone. I hear Luna do the
same next to me.
“Is it a…?” She leaves her sentence unfinished, and I nod. The small slit I cut
in the plastic shows a thick arm under a rolled-up shirt, far too thin for our
recently nasty winter. At the very end of the slit, I glimpse a swollen throat
and a jaw covered in a dark shadow of hair. A chill runs down my spine and my
stomach turns.
“Is he alive?” Luna asks, her voice small.
“I … I think so.” I stare at the floor guiltily. “I kicked him pretty hard to
shut him up.” She scoots closer and with trembling fingers folds back the
plastic to see his side, where most of the blood is coming from.
“Cut the rest of it off him,” she tells me quietly. I stare at her in shock.
“But, he––” She cuts me off with a look.
“He isn’t dead yet, but he will be if I don’t stop the blood loss.”
I swallow hard, and comply.
About the author:
Stormy
Corrin Russell is from Orwell, Pennsylvania where she first started writing
from the moment she could hold a pencil. She still loves to write there
and nearly everywhere else. She loves her family, the outdoors, laughing,
eating, and her kitten/writing partner, Maya.
Social media:
Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)