SFR Brigade Presents: An Excerpt From RELEASED

I'm participating in SFR Brigade Presents today by posting an excerpt from RELEASED, Book TWO of the Nogiku Series, which will be published in December! Yep, you heard right. I've set a date, and you'll hear more about that on Tuesday when I reveal the cover right here and on several blogs across the blogosphere.

This snippet is just 200 words but it's from the beginning of RELEASED and will give you a taste of what's to come for Sanaa as she recovers in the desert.

And now that this post is up, I'm out of town for the weekend! I'll see you all back here on Tuesday for the cover reveal of RELEASED!

Find links to all the excerpts here: http://sfrcontests.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-sfr-brigade-presents-18th-24th.html

The sight of the growing sandstorm has me transfixed and panicking, and despite my fear of the sky, I’ve grown to tolerate the dunes and my view. In another hour or two, the desert will be completely gone. The cloud of sand is expanding, the amount of blue above lessening in width every moment.

“No! No! Stay away!”

Slamming my hands against the glass, I burst into tears, my voice cracking from disuse. A coughing fit doubles me over and brings up the tears even harder. I wish the door to the outside wasn’t locked. I would get out. I would run. I’d take my chances with the blue sky and the radiation.

But it’s too late. Specks of sand are already slapping against the window, a steady, high-pitched hiss replacing the desert silence. I back up from the window and sit at the table. I had never been ready to give up, not until now.

Damn you, Mark Sakai. How could you bring me all the way out here and leave me? How could you?

I sit and watch, numb, as the sky is swallowed and everything turns orange.