Sunday Snippet: "Nothing remained standing."

That time of the week again! Time to post 8-10 sentences of my writing for Weekend Writing Warriors. Since I'm working on promoting Storm Born, which is still up for pre-order, I'm going to continue with snippets from the beginning of the book. Last week, our heroine Ava was confronted and stabbed by a man she thought was her saviour in the middle of a hurricane brought on by a humanoid creature called a Stormkind. Information overload, I know. This week, I'm skipping ahead to the second chapter, were Ava wakes up and sees the devastation of the massive storm, known as the Centennial...

Nothing remained standing. Nothing. Every single house was flattened into piles of crushed bricks, shattered stone, and splintered wood. Windows from apartment buildings and businesses were shattered, leaving dark, gaping holes in their wake. Palm trees lay across the streets in crumpled heaps. Flattened beneath them were telephone lines and power poles, their wires wrapped haphazardly around overturned cars and trucks like pythons squeezing around their prey. It was like a rain of giant fists had pounded into the city, hammering without mercy until only shambles remained. 

Complete devastation spanned as far as I could see, all the way to the horizon and the ocean beyond. The water was calm and placid now, but I saw upturned boats and remnants of the docks bobbing helplessly in the water.

***

A single night can change your life... for the worst.

It’s been a century since the last Centennial Storm, the calamitous phenomenon that covers the world in disasters”" tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, tsunamis, and dust storms”" caused not by nature, but by alien creatures from another realm. The Stormkind.

Ava Reid tries not to think about that night, when she was caught in a hurricane and face to face with one of the Stormkind, the man with a dagger, and the agony she felt when he stabbed her with a crystal blade. Yet as she and the rest of Florida’s citizens begin to rebuild their lives, Ava can’t help but notice strange things happening around her. Things she seems to be causing. The gusts of wind and sudden floods that attract the attentions of a mysterious stranger leaving her clues, and the deadlier men following her.

It isn’t long before Ava is swept up into a wild conspiracy, led by a secret society that knows the truth about the Stormkind”" and what their enemies have planned for the world she loves. If she wishes to protect her friends and her family, Ava must harness her strange new abilities and become part of the Stormkind society. Because if she loses control, there will be no force strong enough to stop her...

***
It's been a productive week for me, with a feature in an article on Bookworks that makes me sound like I've been doing this for a decade rather than a couple years, an author spotlight on The Bookish Crypt, and new paperbacks coming in for the Damnation's Door giveaways.

All the while, I've been plugging away at the rough draft of Storm of the Gods, the first novel in my upcoming urban Greek mythology series, Areios Brothers. I'm close to the end, about 2.5 more chapters to go, which is fantastic, but the timing puts me in a dilemma... Because tomorrow is my birthday. :D

On one hand, writing brings me pure happiness. I love the story I'm working on, world, characters, and all, and I do want to have it finished and in the polishing phases before the end of the month (still wondering if I need Beta readers to look it over before I send it to publishers?)... but I'm not above being lazy on my birthday. I'm already thinking I'll have a bath, watch The Walking Dead so I can get the heartbreak and frustration over with, and my family's taking me out for pizza, but I don't know if I just want to stay in my PJ's and read all day, or if I'll be suckered into this story and end up writing regardless.

So that's my snippet and some news. Be sure to stop by the other Weekend Writing Warriors blogs and give them some love in the comments. Hope everyone has a great weekend! I know I will. ;)

Amy