Saturday, July 2, 2011

Excerpt - A Season of Transformation

Synopsis:
A Season of Transformation is a young adult fantasy/ romance novel set in the contemporary world. It is the story of five young people drawn together to complete a Quest, to protect their town from destruction. In order to defeat the story’s villain, Maxvale, the five virtual strangers must come together and not only forge a bond of trust but become proficient with the ‘abilities’ temporarily bestowed upon them.

In the midst of the lead up to the battle each of the young people has their own personal struggles they are trying to deal with. Lucas, an adopted and bitter teenager struggles to become the person he wants to be whilst developing feelings for Makenna, a rich kid who doesn’t like his attitude. Bonnie is a ‘gothic’ that is dealing with an alcoholic father, Ben the school nerd and Adam the class clown are trying to break free from their high school stereotypes. These five teens need to put aside their differences so they can defeat Maxvale and save their town.

Excerpt:

Chapter 3- Makenna’s Emerging Abilities

The morning approaches too quickly. I groan and slam my hand on the alarm clock. Is it just me or did the buzzer turn off a split second before I hit the off button? Okay no more crazy thinking Makenna! Today I am going to return to living a normal life. No more odd forces, old boxes or contemplating strange things happening in my room.

I can’t count how many times I have yawned by the time I enter the kitchen of the main house. I shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night. At least I only have to get through one more day of school, before the weekend starts. Oh how I love Fridays. I think about what I might do with myself over the weekend as I open the pantry doors in search of the cereal.

I scan the containers stacked side by side in matching Tupperware containers. Cornflakes, Weet-bix or Coco Pops? I think I’ll go with Cornflakes today- something reasonably healthy after the whole packet of fairy floss that I shared with Tamsin and Aliysha last night. Before I reach up to grab the container I stifle a yawn and rub my eyes and try to open them up real wide to help me feel more awake.

I scream and jump backwards when my eyes re-focus. The Cornflakes are hovering outside the cupboard… in mid air. My eyes widen.

How could this be happening? Am I that deliriously tired?

“What’s the matter hun?” My mother asks with concern as she enters the kitchen behind me.

My body tenses up as I am startled even more by my mother’s voice and the possibility of her witnessing this unnatural experience. I quickly reach up and grab the container out of the air before my mother can see.

I peer at my mother from around the pantry door; her eyebrows are furrowed down, her eyes peering at me curiously.

“Uhh. I thought I saw a spider,” I stammer.

“Oh. False alarm then huh,” she smiles.

“Yeah I guess so,” I smile back weakly.

My mother is dressed in her usual professional attire. She wears a black pin stripe pencil skirt with a matching vest. Underneath she is wearing a teal button up shirt which brings out her blue eyes and is a nice contrast against her honey blonde hair. Although she is in her early forties she could easily pass for a woman in her early thirties. She is often asked by strangers if she had me when she was a teenager. She politely explains to them that she is older than she looks. I secretly admire her and hope that I take as much pride in my looks when I get older as she does.

“Well how was the carnival last night?” She asks chirpily.

I try to avoid further eye contact with her as I pour the cereal into a bowl.

“It was fun.”.

“Oh that’s good hun.”

I nod, shovelling cereal into my mouth in an attempt to finish it as soon as possible so I can leave.

“So what are your plans for the weekend then?” Mum asks, trying her hardest to engage me in conversation.

“Um not sure yet mum. Might hang out with Tamsin and Aliysha tonight. Haven’t really thought about what I’m doing over the weekend yet.”

“Okay well just so you know I will be working tomorrow. Tonight I have a dinner on with the partners so I won’t be back until late.”

“Okay no problem.”

“Have a good day,” mum says as she plants a kiss on my forehead and leaves the kitchen.

A good day. Well it wasn’t quite starting off that way. I can only hope that once I get to class I can forget all about the cereal container floating in mid air in the centre of my mother’s kitchen.

Chapter 1 & 2 are available for free at http://jaynefordham.com

It is available for purchase from Amazon Kindle Store and from Lulu as paperback or file download. Ebooks are available for only $2.99!

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