Savage Winds
by R.J. Merle
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
A dangerous
conspiracy unfolds...
In Author R.J.
Merle’s whirlwind start of the Children of the Elements series, a clumsy
teenage techno-geek struggles to protect kidnapped children from a covert government
organization responsible for creating their abilities to control the five
elements.
A mighty wind…
Eighteen-year-old
Stedford Thackett’s conspiracy theorist brother ensnares him in a real life
children-as-weapons plot, while a determined scientist grooms happy-go-lucky
five-year-old Darcie Lynn Carpenter to use the wind as a deadly weapon.
Out of
control...
Despite the firm
hand of Scientist Nora Hicks, Stedford struggles to rescue the kids and escape,
even as Darcie Lynn fights to gain control of the surging power of the savage
winds.
EXCERPT:
If
only Stedford could spend his Saturday afternoon working on projects. Nowhere
near as lucrative or fun, keeping track of Cantrell was a honking full-time
job.
Up
ahead, a left-to-right movement shifted among the towering tree trunks.
He
choked out a loud whisper, “Cantrell?”
A
coyote howled. Behind him. Too close.
A
rush jolted through Stedford’s veins. He shoved the phone into his back jeans
pocket and dashed into the brush.
Branches
slashed and snapped.
Briars
grabbed, snagged, and snatched free.
The
pounding smash of his high-tops bulled through the scrub. Grayness reduced the
reach of his eyesight. As dusk fell toward nightfall, he wouldn’t be able to
see squat.
Zero
night vision.
Zilch.
After
pulling up to a halt, like a tree among many, he stood stark still.
What
had he been thinking coming out here like this?
That
maybe he might keep Cantrell from getting into trouble, all the while
protecting his own chances to contract for a special project. Nothing wrong
with looking out for both their futures.
If
Uncle Merv’s contacts worked out, the brothers would be set money-wise for
life.
Not
a bad deal for a geeky eighteen-year-old.
Except
Stedford would soon be wandering the dark.
He
retrieved his phone and gauged the average power usage. Three and a quarter
hours of battery life. Tops. Way before midnight, his flashlight app would die
with the phone, and he would flounder in total darkness.
Ominous
shivers goosed his chill bumps.
A
stick snapped atop the hill.
1.What's the best and worst part of being an author?
The best part of being an author is making up
stories… I cannot imagine a career more awesome than that! I get to entertain
myself during the writing process, as well as entertain readers. Fun, fun, fun!
The worst part of being an author is that I am
ALWAYS writing in my head. At the dinner table, while driving, and even
during—gasp!—episodes of the Walking Dead. I struggle to focus on the moment at
hand, and to thoroughly enjoy reality, because I’m having so much fun
storytelling in my head.
2. Which book of yours is your favorite? Why?
Savage
Winds, the
first book in the Children of the Elements series that features the local
community where I grew up, is the the whirlwind start of the series about psychically
gifted children and their struggles to survive, so it has a special place on my
fav list.
3. What are your favorite authors in the genre that you
write?
Suzanne Collins, Ilsa J. Bick, and Veronica Roth.
4. Which of your characters is most like you?
Eighteen-year-old Stedford Thackett’s point of
view weaves through the entire series—five full novels, one huge story—and no
matter how bad he’s messed up, challenged, or defeated, he struggles to keep on
keeping on.
LINKS:
Website: www.rjmerle.com
Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/savage-winds-r-j-merle/1120920193
AUTHOR INFORMATION AND LINKS
Author R.J. Merle stepped
out of the realm of Top-Secret documents (shh, don’t tell…) to write sci-fi and
paranormal fiction.
R.J. survived and escaped
both the entertainment field and the government-contracting environment, craves
the Walking Dead, and entertains what-if tidbits about “supposed” technological
and biological advances.
No stranger to the goings on
in the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, R.J. Merle blends a down-home flavor with
a former in-the-know—hypothetically, of course—technical background to craft
the twists and intrigue of Secret City Adventures.
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/R.J.-Merle/e/B00P8E0X5A
BN Author Page: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/r.j.-merle
Website:
http://www.rjmerle.com/COTE.html
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/RJ-Merle-Author/1409155235976147
Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10944948.R_J_Merle
Blog:
http://rjmerle.blogspot.com/
Buy Links:
NOTE: Savage Winds is FREE!
http://www.amazon.com/Children-Elements-Science-Fiction-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00P89UM5G/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/savage-winds-r-j-merle/1120920193?ean=2940046560206
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/516527
The author will be awarding a $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Use the link below to enter. You can find the tour schedule at http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/02/vbt-savage-winds-by-rj-merle.html
