This month Jacqueline Patricks has released the first novel in her new Fantasy Dystopia series, The Verge. The book’s title and the unusual blend of fantasy and post-apocalyptic fiction have piqued my interest in this series. I hope you’ll take a moment to read an excerpt along with the author’s featured guest post for today’s tour stop that explains why she enjoys being an Indie author. If you’re interested in reading this book, you can enter the tour-wide giveaway for a chance to win a copy along with a gift card. Or if you don’t want to wait, you can buy the book now for only $.99. Happy reading!
Fairytale Apocalypse (the Verge # 1) by Jacqueline Patricks
Publication Date: September 22, 2014
Genre: Fantasy, Dystopia, New Adult
A romance of apocalyptic proportions
Two worlds bound by magic…
Three people joined by destiny…
Lord Kagan Donmall rules the Verge, the border that protects the magical Fae Inlands from the mundane mortal world. Recently, the Verge has been failing and he suspects the source of magic is fading. His prayers to Danu have gone unanswered, until now.
The young mortal, Lauren Montgomery, hears the message of Danu and eagerly agrees to be the Lady of the Verge, for she desires more than a mundane life.
But Lauren’s twin sister, Tessa-ever her sister’s protector, challenges the decision. The Verge falls, and the Fae and mortal worlds suffer a double apocalypse.
Now Kagan, Lauren, and Tessa must survive in this new, hostile world and discover a way to repair that which has been destroyed while navigating the bonds of duty, love, and vengeance.
“Lauren!” Tessa wandered past the boundary of their backyard and into the abandoned field, where the grass grew over waist high. “Lauren!” she shouted again. Grasshoppers randomly popped around her, chirping their distress. “Hey, sis!” Tessa circled in place, one hand a visor for her eyes against the afternoon sun. “Mom said not to play out here anymore. Remember?”
The sun’s warm gold merged with the brown of the autumn grasses. How was she supposed to find Lauren—her pale, blonde twin—in this mini forest of golds? Lauren blended in unlike her, the raven-haired, dark-eyed twin. “Laurie, darn it!” Tessa kicked the grass, knocking late pollen and dust loose to be caught by the wind. The grasshoppers had already evacuated. “If you don’t come out this instant, I’m telling Mom! You’re supposed to be helping me clean, not goofing off like usual!”
“Tessa.”
A whisper in the wind—Laurie? Goosebumps rose over Tessa’s arms, and she pin-wheeled around. Close? Far? Suddenly cold, she rubbed her arms to coax blood to the surface. “Come on, where are you, sis?” She heard the wavering note in her voice. It’s just the breeze making me cold. I should’ve brought a jacket.
“She’s coming.”
Tessa jumped, turned, and there stood Lauren several feet away with her back to Tessa. She hadn’t been there a second ago. “Lauren?” she said and crept closer. The tall blades of grass snagged her jeans. “Who? Who’s coming?” Tessa touched her twin’s shoulder. Lauren’s brand new, birthday dress fluttered in the breeze. The eyelet cloth was both soft and rough. Lauren adored girly clothes while Tessa preferred getting-dirty clothes.
“She’s coming,” Lauren said in a dreamy voice. She plucked at the skirt of her dress, and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
“Laurie?” Tessa gently turned her sister.
Lauren gazed at her with eyes of pure white. “The goddess.”
Tessa gasped and jerked away. “Your eyes!”
“She’s coming, Tessa,” Lauren blinked then collapsed. The overgrown field hid her with its mini-buttresses of grass.
“Oh God, Laurie!” Tessa knelt and listened for her sister’s breathing. “Don’t be dead, don’t be dead!” She shook her sister. “Laurie!”
Lauren inhaled deeply, shuddering.
“Please, sis,” Tessa sniffed and laid her head on Lauren’s chest, “please wake up.”
“Tessa?”
“Laurie?” Tessa sat up and wiped her runny nose.
“Why are you crying?”
“Because you—your eyes!”
“What about them?”
“They’re … green now.”
Lauren’s brow furrowed and she frowned. “Duh, they’re always green,” she said and sat up with Tessa’s help.
“They were completely white.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t remember what just happened?”
“You were yelling about how you were gonna tattle on me. Like always.”
“Then what?”
“Then nothing.” Lauren shrugged. “What?”
“You’re really okay?” Tessa patted her sister down, searching for injuries.
“Stop touching me!” Lauren pushed her sister away, then stood and shook out her dress. Bits of dried grass flew into the air. “I’m fine. Geez. You’re always such a mother hen.”
Tessa stood too, hands on her hips. “Excuse me for being worried about you!”
“Just because you were born five minutes before me, you always boss me around!”
“Well somebody has to; otherwise you’d wander off in a daze!”
Lauren huffed and stomped a foot. “You take that back!”
“Will not!”
“Brat!” Lauren shoved Tessa.
Tessa shoved her back. “Jerk!”
“Girls?” their mother shouted from the back porch, “girls!” Her voice flew, clear and sharp, over the yard and the trees hugging the line of their house. Tessa jumped and Lauren spun in place, fanning out her white dress, staring at the ground, and humming.
“Coming, Mom!” Tessa shouted, then grabbed her sister’s hand.
“Not so tight, you’re hurting me.”
“Oh, stop griping, or I’ll tell Mom where I found you.”
“You are a tattler.” Lauren’s lower lip stuck out.
Tessa loosened her hold, then slowed to walk next to her sister. “I’ll make a deal with you.”
“Yeah?” Lauren’s brows perked up, and she skipped a few steps ahead.
“Yeah. How about you finish my half of the cleaning today, and I won’t mention the field.”
“Cleaning?” Lauren’s shoulders slumped.
Tessa groaned. “Yes, cleaning. You haven’t done any today, and it is for our birthday party tomorrow.”
“Ahhh.” Lauren grinned and skipped, twirling as she moved forward. “Our sweet sixteen, sister dear. We’re finally women.”
“Not if we don’t get the house ready,” Tessa said.
Lauren tilted her head back, eyes closed, her arms outstretched.
“Laurie, what’re you doing?”
“Mmm, feeling the sky.”
Sighing, Tessa took her sister’s hand and tugged until Lauren stumbled forward. “Come on, Tinkerbell, time to walk normally.”
“You’re no fun.”
“So you tell me.” Tessa ground her teeth. “All. The. Time.”
Purchase Fairytale Apocalypse from Amazon:
As a teen, writing became my passion, and like most aspiring writers, my work was terrible, immature, cliched drivel. I enlisted in the Army, attended college for my creative writing degree, became a paramedic for twenty years (one of the few at the time with a degree), then switched careers into IT. Crazy, huh? Throughout my life, I’ve traveled far and pushed myself hard, striving to try almost anything at least once (except skydiving unless the plane is on fire).
I write like I live. Come and explore my imagination.
You can find and contact Jacqueline Patricks here:
Author Links
Website: http://www.jacquelinepatricks.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jacquelinepatricks
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jinx1764
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/jacquelinepatricks
Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00AACPHB0
“I Love Being an Indie Author”
I love being an Indie author. I love the possibilities. I love how Indies are willing to share information and help each other. Several times a year, I speak on panels during writing conferences and author engagements. I mainly teach Improvisational Writing, but I also teach Self-publishing, and I’m constantly surprised at how many authors are in the early stages of self-publishing. It’s a sharp learning curve and, while there’s a lot of resources online for Indie authors, it’s difficult to know which ones to trust.
That’s why I love meeting authors new to the process. It’s exciting to see how they absorb information. They ask so many questions that I’m able to answer, and it gives me great joy to help. Just last month, I spoke at a local library author celebration and not only did the panel go extremely well, but several authors connected with me later that week saying they were very impressed by my presentation.
These types of interactions would’ve never happened before the ebook revolution. Even a few years ago, authors didn’t share information, didn’t bother to make connections, or truly help one another in random settings. Authors competed for the few publishing slots, and the secrets of how to get there were guarded.
But now there’s plenty of publishing room and most authors are happy to share. Indies aren’t in competition with each other. Indies are free to work together to write more books, better books, so readers have more to enjoy, and every year Indie publishing is growing. Who knows where it’ll be in a year or five. Don’t you love the possibilities, too?
Tour-wide Giveaway
$100 Amazon gift card &
Signed Copy of Fairytale Apocalypse
a Rafflecopter giveaway
You can view the complete tour schedule on Lola’s Blog Tours website
Sun Mountain Reviews 
wow! what a story!
All the best!
Thanks for visiting Sharmishtha! It is definitely looks like a book worth checking out.
Wow! I totally have to check this out. This is pretty much right up my alley.
Good morning, thank you for stopping by. I’m also intrigued by this new series and have added it to my reading list. If you do get a chance to check it out, I hope you’ll stop back again and let me know what you thought.