Fiber
by Jennifer-Crystal
Johnson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE: Science
Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Anna Reynolds is
caught up in the middle of a secret interdimensional government agreement...
and she doesn't even know it.
There's a medical anomaly loosely dubbed Morgellons disease afflicting a number of people. Symptoms include open sores that produce colorful string-like fibers, fatigue, and nightmarish visions of shadowy figures. No one knows where it came from. No one knows what causes it. There is no cure.
When Anna begins having nightmares and waking hallucinations of the shadow people, her uneasiness about her condition grows. Enlisting the help of her doctor and some friends, Anna is determined to find out what's really going on and why Morgellons is such a mystery.
With her health declining and doubts about whom she can trust, is Anna doomed to become a slave to her condition? Or will she and her unlikely group of would-be heroes come through, saving her... and, ultimately, the world?
There's a medical anomaly loosely dubbed Morgellons disease afflicting a number of people. Symptoms include open sores that produce colorful string-like fibers, fatigue, and nightmarish visions of shadowy figures. No one knows where it came from. No one knows what causes it. There is no cure.
When Anna begins having nightmares and waking hallucinations of the shadow people, her uneasiness about her condition grows. Enlisting the help of her doctor and some friends, Anna is determined to find out what's really going on and why Morgellons is such a mystery.
With her health declining and doubts about whom she can trust, is Anna doomed to become a slave to her condition? Or will she and her unlikely group of would-be heroes come through, saving her... and, ultimately, the world?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXCERPT:
As Anna walked home through the glistening streets
of Deeplake, Washington, she adjusted her scarf and wrapped her coat around
herself tightly, her breath fogging up the air in front of her. After a brief
glance over her shoulder, she quickened her pace, her bag of groceries
teetering in her arms momentarily as she readjusted her grip.
She’d been feeling like someone was watching or
following her for weeks. At first she just shrugged it off as her own
overactive imagination, but the other day, she could’ve sworn she saw a shadow
out of the corner of her eye. When she looked, there was nothing there. That
wasn’t the first time she had seen shadows. They were always there, just out of
sight, their existence never confirmed by a direct glance. But every time it
happened, she got goosebumps and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end
like it does when you know someone is watching you.
Her left eye began to feel itchy and grainy as she
walked, and she cursed herself for not driving. She blinked several times, but
after a few moments her eye felt like it had sand in it again. This was
accompanied by an unpleasant tickling sensation, which became annoying very
quickly.
Her thoughts wandered as her eye got worse. She
felt guilty but justified for not mentioning her problems to Casey, who had
more than enough on her plate already. She also didn’t want to come across as
crazy; Anna was certain she wasn’t. Some of the recent events in her life were
crazy, but she was definitely sane.
Do crazy people think they’re sane?
A Word From the Author
First, I’d like to say thank you
for allowing me to share my thoughts with you and your readers! I appreciate
your time, work, and effort, and I hope that you find this post as well as my new
sci-fi conspiracy novel, Fibers,
enjoyable =).
1. When did you first realize you
wanted to become a writer?
From the age of eight, I really
only had two creative passions in life... music and writing! I started taking
keyboard (electronic piano) lessons when I was eight in CO and began composing
music a few months after that. Creative expression was so amazing to me that I
also began writing stories separately from school assignments. Because I loved
writing so much and everyone told me I had talent, I managed to get into many other
types of writing, too, and got my first freelance writing job online when I was
13. I’ve been keeping journals since I was about 12 and can honestly say that
writing has saved my life – and my sanity – on numerous occasions.
2. Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre that you write?
My genre is a little weird – I
classified it as science fiction but there are elements from a number of
different genres in there. I honestly don’t think I could limit myself strictly
to one genre, anyway, especially since I’ve written so many different books
already (poetry and personal development included) as well as freelancing with
the attitude that I can write anything ;). Some of my all-time favorite books
include The Sirens of Titan and Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Dante’s
Divine Comedy, Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite, Phantom by Susan Kay, and when I
was a kid I couldn’t get enough of RL Stine, starting with the Goosebumps books
when I was young and moving on to the Fear Street books once I was about 12 or
13.
3. What are you reading right now?
Currently I’m reading The Charge
by Brendon Burchard and Honeymoon by James Patterson. I lean a lot toward
motivational and inspirational personal development books these days because
improving my life and achieving my goals is extremely important to me;
Honeymoon is something I’m reading because I’m enrolled in James Patterson’s
writing course on the MasterClass website.
4. Which one of your characters is most like you?
Anna is a lot like me as I am
now, while her best friend, Casey, is a lot like me when I was in my twenties:
loud, crazy, boisterous, adventurous. I’m sure they will both change as the
series goes on, but that was what I felt comfortable with as I created my first
full-length novel. They say that a lot of the author’s personality shines
through in a first novel; that means that everyone who reads Fibers will know me pretty well
afterwards, won’t they? =)
5. Which of your books is your favorite? Why?
So far? This one! I spent
countless hours planning, brainstorming, researching... and realizing that
writing a novel that’s entertaining and makes sense (between the medical and
technological aspects in this book, there were a number of things I had to learn
about to understand so that I could describe them in my book without boring
readers to tears with complicated details) is challenging. Now that it’s
finally out, I can’t wait to work on the sequel because I know that each time I
write a novel, the process will become more natural for me, and therefore, faster.
Thank you so much for your
questions! I certainly hope that your readers enjoy science fiction – forget
the vampires, space aliens, and zombies, though... alternate dimensions are my
thing ;). With a budding romance during an interdimensional conspiracy
connected to a mystery medical condition (Morgellons, by the way, is a real
condition; some of the symptoms have been fictionalized for the purpose of this
trilogy), hopefully this story grabs your attention and makes you think while
creeping you out a little and also entertaining you =).
To receive 12 excerpts (text and
video readings) directly in your email, go to www.JenniferCrystalJohnson.com and sign up for my mailing list. Or, if you already think it sounds
awesome, you can purchase a copy on Amazon =).
Thanks again for having me! I
hope you enjoy the rest of your week... happy reading!
AUTHOR Bio and
Links:
Jennifer-Crystal
Johnson is originally from Germany, but was raised an Army brat. She has
published one novella under her former last name, The Outside Girl: Perception
is Reality (Publish America, 2005 - out of print as of 2013), a poetry book,
Napkin Poetry (Broken Publications, 2010), and a collection of poetry, art, and
prose called Strangers with Familiar Faces (Broken Publications, 2011). She's
also published a collection of short creature horror stories called If You're
Human Don't Open the Door (Broken Publications, 2012), a personal development
book called The Ten Pillars of a Happy Relationship (Broken Publications,
2014), and a collection of more horror stories (no creatures this time, just
people) called Our Capacity for Evil (Broken Publications, 2015). She has
several poems and short stories published on Every Writer's Resource and has
recently published a science fiction novel called Fibers, the first book in the
Infiltration Trilogy. Jen owns and operates Broken Publications (www.BrokenPublications.com) and
publishes an annual anthology to raise awareness about domestic violence called
Soul Vomit (www.SoulVomit.com). When she isn't writing or editing, she enjoys
playing games with her three kids, watching crime shows on Netflix, or reading.
She lives in WA State with her three children, three cats, and a crazy puppy
named Thor. You can connect with her at www.JenniferCrystalJohnson.com,
@brokenpoet, or www.Facebook.com/JenniferCrystalJohnson.
The author will be
awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter
during the tour. Use the link below to enter.
Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteI liked the excerpt, thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for hosting! Also, thank you to everyone for stopping by to take a look and read about my new book =). I hope you all love it, and best of luck in the contest!
ReplyDeleteJen
Sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I love the cover it's fantastic, it a creepy way lol.. thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! Love the blurb! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletesounds like a great book! Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleterounder9834 @yahoo.com
Do you have any advice for other writers?
ReplyDelete@Mai T.:
ReplyDeleteI think the best advice that any author can give to another writer is to write and read a lot... and love your research =). I had to do extensive research on a number of things for Fibers and, though it took hundreds of hours, it made the book what it is today. Thank you so much for participating & commenting! =)
Jen