The Chasm

The Chasm

by Branwen OShea

 

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GENRE: YA Science Fiction/Fantasy

 

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BLURB:

 

 

They thought the biggest problem they faced was each other.

 

After Bleu, Rana, and their new friends narrowly prevent war between the star beings and humans, they hope the upcoming negotiation will secure the peace. Newly emerged from their subterranean haven, the Northern Haven humans are clearly not suited to Earth’s ice age, and require assistance from the enlightened star beings to survive long term on the Surface. But Commander Savas doesn’t trust the suspiciously kind star beings and their unexplainable abilities. When both sides reluctantly negotiate a joint mission to find the other Havens, Bleu must somehow cooperate with the manipulative commander to keep his friends safe.

 

As their team confronts unexpected dangers, Bleu and his teammates begin to suspect the star beings don’t know as much about the Surface as they claimed, while Rana is torn between remaining true to her nonviolent ways or becoming more human to survive. When an unnatural predator attacks, even the nearly all-knowing Kalakanya can’t explain it. Now the team must pull together or their new discovery will pull them apart, limb by limb.

 

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EXCERPT

 

As the sun descended behind the mountain and darkness crept across the frozen field, a strange dread seeped into Bleu’s bones. It felt like a warning, an alarm that danger lurked nearby.

 

He had known safety in Rana’s village, and he’d lost the spatial anxiety caused by the wide-open spaces of the Surface that differed so much from the cozy walls and tunnels of home. No, this unease wasn’t spatial anxiety to the openness of the sky and horizon.

 

This was different, and perhaps a bit similar to what Kahali feared. Bleu had never faced the possibility of other humans with guns. His team sat out in the open, exposed. The meager light from the cooking fire did nothing against the shroud of blackness surrounding them. No safe walls protected them from physical attacks or bullets. And then, there were the unknown predators of the region.

 

His earlier excitement of finding the footprints evaporated, leaving behind a gnawing awareness of their vulnerability. The darkness beyond the campfire could be punctured any moment by monstrous claws or gunfire. Childhood tales of the evil Undescended crowded his mind with images so ludicrously terrible that he wanted to laugh at himself.

 

Instead, he checked that they were all armed and sent Savas and Neviah to make sure the helicopters were locked. Animal calls and crunching footsteps drifted down the mountains as if something were encircling them. Even the confident star beings kept glancing out into the night. They should be comfortable in such wilderness, right?

A Word With the Author 

1.Did you always want to be an author?

When I was in elementary school, I enjoyed writing poetry and adventure stories for myself but never seriously considered being an author. To younger me, authors were mystical creatures that magically divined stories from the ethers, not something one could choose to be. I wanted to help people and explore the universe, so my goals were to be a doctor or astronaut. In college, I majored in biology, did research for a while and then went to graduate school to become a therapist. In the midst of a flood of dystopian books and movies, my teen clients inspired me to write YA books where there’s not a clear, single chosen one, but rather large groups of unlikely heroes changing humanity’s future for the better.  

2.Tell us about the publication of your first book.

My first written book was The Calling, book one in this series. However, my first published book was a sci-fi novella, Silence of the Song Trees, based on the idea the last living alien trying to save his planet. Because it was a novella, I never queried it, but instead hired editors and a cover artist, and learned how to do everything myself, including marketing. It hit #1 New Release in its Amazon category, so I was quite happy with its publication journey.

3.Besides yourself, who is your favorite author in the genre you write in?

Ah, this is a question I can’t answer, as several of my good friends also write science fiction, lol. I enjoy reading S. Z. Atwell, Octavia Butler, Michael Mammay, Mary E. Pearson, Dawn Ross, and Alyse N. Steves.

4.What’s the best part of being an author? The worst?

I absolutely love writing the first draft of novels. When I decide on my next idea to write (I have lots of ideas), I choose the characters with the personalities and story concept that most intrigues me. As I write, I see the story like a movie in my mind and feel more like a scribe, taking notes on what the characters are doing and saying. It’s a ton of fun, but requires you really trust in the process.

For the Finding Humanity series, I have a summary, maybe a few sentences at most, of what will happen in each book in the series. As I write, I’m experiencing similar emotions to what future readers might experience because I too want to see what happens next. I often have no idea how they will survive a particular situation until I write it.

The worst part of being an author is dealing with all the marketing. I don’t hate marketing, but I’d much rather be creating more books than creating marketing tools.

5.What are you working on now?

Currently, I’m editing book three, The Ruined. This book is special to me because by the end of it, readers will finally have met all the major players in the series.  

 

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

As a young girl, Branwen wanted to become an ambassador for aliens. Since the aliens never hired her, she now writes about them.

 

Branwen OShea has a Bachelors in Biology from Colgate University, a Bachelors in Psychology, and a Masters in Social Work. She lives in Connecticut with her family and a menagerie of pets, and enjoys hiking, meditating, and star-gazing. Her published works include Silence of the Song Trees, The Calling, The Cords That Bind, and The Chasm.

 

 

Website: www.branwenoshea.com

Twitter: www.twitter.com/branwenoshea

Instagram: www.instagram.com/branwenoshea

Facebook: www.facebook.com/branwenoshea

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/branwenoshea

Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/branwenoshea

 

The Chasm (Book 2) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QFPHQVN

The Calling (Book 1) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1735915998

The Cords That Bind (Book 1.1) on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CSK4813

 

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

Branwen OShea will be awarding $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

  

a Rafflecopter giveaway