And here is the last bit. Enjoy - and thanks for hanging out at the pavilion!
Remember - you can enter the contest until October 31, on my website or my Facebook page.
Here we go:
Meet Alex Finch - tomboy, techno geek, monster hunter.
Reluctant monster hunter.
A school project, an absentminded project partner, and a misplaced backpack all change 16-year-old Alex Finch's life forever.
In a single afternoon Alex finds the missing backpack, has a run-in with Sam, the boy she's had a crush on since first grade - and discovers that monsters are real.
That mind-blowing incident throws her life in a completely different direction, uncovering secrets that cost her more than she could ever imagine. And the further she digs, the darker and more dangerous the secrets become.
What else is hiding behind the ordinary facade of her California beach town?
Alex is about to find out.
*Includes an exclusive excerpt of Truth and Consequences, the second Monster Files adventure, coming your way in time for the holidays!
Excerpt:
We were at the back of the house, trapped by an eight foot
version of the spike tipped wrought iron fence. McGinty must have been one
paranoid man. And we weren’t getting out that way.
Before I could stop her, Misty disappeared around the corner.
The creature didn’t follow us out the window, like I expected, so it could be
anywhere—and that
included waiting for us to run out front and straight into its sharp claws.
“Misty!” I tried not to shout her name, but I needed her to
hear me. I skidded around the corner and ran right into her. She clutched my
injured arm; the pain almost buckled my knees. “God—”
“Sorry.” She snatched her hand away, and saw the blood-smeared
gash. “Oh, Alex,” she
whispered. “That thing didn’t—”
“Rusty can.” I caught my breath, cradled my throbbing arm.
Leaning in, I kept my voice as low as possible. The creature probably had the
keen hearing of a wolf, and already pinpointed our position. “I’m going to go
first. If I tell you to run, you run. No hesitation, no looking back.”
“What about you?” Her concern left me feeling—odd. No one at school
ever . . . Never mind.
“I’ll be right behind you. Promise,” I said, when she gave
me the skeptical eye. “Are you okay to run?”
We both looked down at her feet, at the bloody footprints in
the dirt. Glass littered the ground, and she obviously found her share of it.
“I’m good. The pain’ll come after, I’m sure.” She tried a
smile, failed miserably. I appreciated the effort. Miss Prom Queen kept
surprising me. “Don’t play the martyred hero. I really, really don’t want to do
the project on my own.”
Before today, I didn’t want to do the project with her at
all. Now I wanted to live through this, just to see what kind of awesome we
could create. And I don’t use that word often—especially with anything relating to school.
“Just for you.” I hefted the iron leg, my muscles already
burning from the weight. “Ready?” Misty let out her breath, nodded. “Wait for
my signal, then run like the chess club is after you.”
That got the smile out. The chess club adored Misty, and let her know, in all sorts of creepy, stalkerish
ways. “Meet you at the bus stop,” she whispered. “Seriously. You better show.”
“Got it.” I inched along the side of the house, Misty close
behind, but out of swinging range. I seriously underestimated her brain
capacity. The stench of wet dog hit me before we reached the corner. I touched Misty’s
wrist. “When I say go, you hit it. Hard and fast.”
She bit her lip, but nodded. I kept moving forward, both
hands on the iron leg. This time I was aiming for that smirking snout. I needed
to do enough damage to give me time to reach the sidewalk. That was my get-out-alive
goal.
I just hoped I had enough left to cause the damage.
My arm had been bleeding steadily since I cut it, with no
time to do anything but pretend it didn’t hurt like hell. Closing my stronger
right hand over my left, I moved forward, taking slow, even breaths.
Claws scraped across cement. It was on the walkway—I hoped—leading up to the house.
Please, God, don’t let it be on the sidewalk outside the fence.
I took a chance, peeked around the side of the house. And
let relief loosen the knot in my gut. The creature sniffed along the middle of
the cracked walkway, its back to me. I knew I wouldn’t get another break like
this.
Shouting in my head, I ran forward, raised the heavy iron
leg and bashed it against the creature’s right flank.
“Go, Misty!”
I saw her in my peripheral vision, dashing across the lawn.
I scrambled backward, keeping the furious, snarling creature in my sightline.
Without warning it leaped forward. I cried out, ramming into
the fence left side first. My injured arm bounced off the wrought iron. The
pain shot through me, going straight to my legs, which happily gave in to it,
dropping me to the ground.
All my pain-blurred vision saw was a black shape filling the
sky. I covered my head with my right arm, made myself as small as possible and braced
for tearing agony.
Instead, a startled whine nearly deafened me. Something wet
and icy splashed over my right arm, followed by a pair of calloused hands that
dragged me up and out of the yard before I could take in a breath to scream.
“Alex!” Misty’s voice pierced through the brain fog. “God,
are you okay? Get her away from the fence, Sam. That nightmare could still
reach through and—”
“He won’t be hurting anyone, Misty.” Oh, no. Please, let me
be hearing things. “You’re safe, Alex. I promise you.”
No—not hearing things. That deep, quiet voice belonged to Sam
Emmett—yeah, those
Emmetts, as in Emmettsville. I’ve had a secret crush on him since the first
grade. I can count on one hand the number of times he’s noticed me. After
today, I’ll have to start using both hands—to hide my face every time he walks by.
Want more? You can grab your own copy here:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Kobo
And here is another chance to enter the release giveaway!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for stopping by, and until next time - read on. :)
About the Author
She loves the supernatural, the odd and the strange, and writing about it is like going to a job she loves - no work and all fun.
She would love for you to join her as she hunts for monsters - real and imagined.
And there's the official biography, out of the way.
I love telling stories, and my four nephews have been a big influence in what I read, and now what I write.
Sliding into YA has been as easy fit, especially since I've been reading and loving it for years.
Alex Finch: Monster Hunter is the first book of a series I have been planning for a while, and I can't wait to introduce you to Alex and her rather quirky friends. :)
To find out more about me and my books, you can hop over to my website:
http://cadeanauthor.com
Hang out with me on my Facebook page: http://facebook.com/cadeanauthor
Or come and exchange tweets at: https://www.twitter.com/cadeanauthor
I look forward to meeting you. :)
