S is for...Synthetica

Today's A to Z blog challenge letter is brought to you by the letter S!

Today I thought I'd share an excerpt from Synthetica with you. If you're new to my blog, Synthetica is my debut YA sci-fi novel. Below is the blurb of the novel, for those of you who are new:

"Seventeen-year-old Anais Finch lives in a world where everyone is born beautiful, where every dream is a possibility - and where their every move and every piece of personal information is recorded by an ID picochip inserted behind their right ear. When technology giant, Civitas, finally announces the launch of their highly anticipated Scholarly Learning Programs, which allow people to download and learn any subject instantly, Anais can hardly wait.

But not everyone is pleased with society's progress, and not everyone wants to fit in. When Anais witnesses a brutal murder on an innocent citizen and is implicated in the crime, she becomes determined to uncover the truth, especially when others like it begin to occur all over the city. But it may already be too late for Anais to stop the man who calls himself 'the Hacker' before he commits his most appalling crime yet."


Today's excerpt comes from one of my favourite parts of the book - the Hacker, not content with the way one of underworld contacts has been doing business, finally decides to show his true colours. I've always felt that this is a kind of turning point in the book; we already know the Hacker is unhinged, based on his past actions, but it's only in this scene that we begin to realise that he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants. What makes him so dangerous if that it doesn't matter if you're on his side or not; if he believes you're standing in his way, it's pretty much the end of the line.

Enjoy the excerpt!

"It was only polite, after all, that one informed someone when their services were no longer required.

So it was completely beyond him why Denzel was on his knees, begging and crying. It didn't evoke any sympathy in him; if anything it simply made him more contemptuous.

Or maybe it had something to do with the knife in his hand. Every time Denzel glanced at it, he burst into renewed sobs.

“P-please, just give me a chance, give me a chance. You'll have your money from the deal, I wasn't keeping from you, I swear, I swear. An' I sold six more of those chips today and I told 'em that if they had any friends, to send them my way. Word's getting out – I just need a little more time. Just a bit longer. Please, please...” Denzel seemed inconsolable as he dissolved into tears.

His brow creased as he tried to imagine what was going through this pitiful man's head. And then he decided he didn't particularly care.

“Get. Up.”

His voice was soft, but he still saw Denzel flinch at the hoarseness of it, at how wrong it sounded. He was used to people recoiling at his voice. He didn't care so long as they still listened to what he had to say. Denzel gave a loud sniff and forced himself to his feet.

He took a step towards Denzel, and Denzel cowered back.

“You can keep the money.”

Denzel looked as though he couldn't believe his ears.

“W-what?”

“This was never about the money. I have no use for it. Keep it.”

Relief washed over Denzel's face and he began to gush in his relief.

“Thank you, thank you, I -”

“Why are you thanking me?”

Denzel stopped. His gaze kept flicking back to the knife.

“I am running out of time. And patience. You told me you could sell. Each and every one. Of those programs within a week. You have not. Lived up to my expectations. You have failed me.”

Denzel remained silent, stealing terrified glances between the knife and the masked face in front of him.

“I have no use for failures.”

He lifted up the knife and Denzel squealed, stumbling backwards and falling onto the floor.

“No – no! Please! I can still help you! Those programs – they're amazing, I ain't never seen a copy that good before. They're just like the real thing would be. I can sell them, I swear, I swear!”

He paused.

“You really. Think they're. That good?” His voice was still as soft as he could make it.

Denzel nodded furiously.

“They're real good. They'd pass any test, honest.” Denzel's voice was almost a squeak in his terror.

He looked down at Denzel grovelling on the floor. He was almost tempted to tell Denzel what his programs actually did – how they were so much more than anything Civitas could ever dream of. But then he decided it would be much more fun to show him.

“Denzel,” his hoarse voice was quiet but the cruel, amused undertone was unmistakable. “Would you like me show you exactly how my programs work?”"

Hope you liked it!

If you did, make sure you check out Synthetica on Amazon and Goodreads :). 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Happy Synthetica Release Day!!

IT'S HERE! IT'S HERE! IT'S FINALLY HERE!!

I still can't believe it! Synthetica goes on sale on Amazon today!! Ahh!!

As you can tell from my IWSG post, I'm still freaking out about this - I've been in a constant state of nervousness since about 7pm last night and I don't think it's doing my heart or mind any good.

So today I've decided to get out of the house. If I stay in, I know I'm just going to drive myself crazy, refreshing my Amazon dashboard every 5 minutes, crying when everyone in the whole world doesn't immediately buy a copy*, and generally driving myself insane. I've made plans with one of my best friends to go out for afternoon tea to celebrate Synthetica's release and I can't wait - not just because I'm celebrating the release of my first book, but also because I haven't seen her since Christmas and I'm looking forward to having a proper girly catch-up.

So, I'm off now; I'm going to go and walk the dog, read, catch up on wedding stuff, get ready for my afternoon out, and generally try not to freak out anymore than I already am. I'll be back later to check out all the awesome A to Z Blog Challenge posts, but until then...have a great day, folks!

Oh, and if you DO fancy checking it out, you can find my book on Amazon, or on Goodreads :). Happy Wednesday!



*But at least I can console myself in the fact that my mum has promised to buy a copy, even if no one else does ;)

Happy Fridays and Synthetica Book Blitz announced!

Morning everyone! It's Friday, the sun is shining and it's the last day of school before the two week Easter break! Hooray!

Another thing to celebrate is that the Synthetica book blitz is now open for sign-ups!! The blitz will run from 1st - 8th April and you can sign up here at the YA Bound website if you'd like to take part :) (don't you just love that banner?? I know I do!). Huge thanks to Nereyda over at YA Books for organising the whole thing!!

So that's all my Friday news! I'm considering wearing my new bright yellow coat today, just to keep me in a happy mood ;).

Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend!

Synthetica - Cover Reveal!!

So the day is finally here...I can finally get rid of that horrible greyish/green box on my Goodreads page and jazz up my soon-to-be 'Books' page on my blog. Why? Because today is the day I CAN FINALLY REVEAL THE COVER FOR SYNTHETICA!!

I'm so so excited!! I really, really hope you guys like it!

Before I get down to it, I just wanted to share with you a little story behind the cover, and why it means so much to me.

Basically, back in January this year, I was slogging through my rewrites of Synthetica, still dreaming about getting published one day but not really doing much about it and going through one of the worst bouts of anxiety I've had in a long long time. I couldn't seem to pull myself out of it. Everything just seemed dull and pointless.

But then, one night, the Engineer started asking me questions about my book. The conversation went a little like this:

Engineer (out of the blue): "What kind of mask does your villain wear?"
Me: "Think about the guy from Captain America: The Winter Solider, and you've got your man. Why?"
Engineer (super sly): "No reason..."
Me: "TELL ME!"
Engineer: "No." *clams up and refuses to speak to me about it again*

That conversation hasn't been stylised at all. Well, maybe a little, but still - he did ask me out of the blue about my villain's mask and when I pressed him, he did refuse to tell me.

A week or so later, while he was in China on a business trip, the Engineer sent me an email. Attached was a mock-up of a cover for Synthetica. Without me knowing, he'd got a designer he works with to design a cover for me. I was in shock and so thrilled at the same time - when I asked him why he'd done it, you know what the Engineer said to me? He said he wanted me to have something to look forward to. He did it to pull me out of myself and back into the real world. I still can't believe that I've managed to find someone that selfless, who knew I was going through a rough time and decided to help me out of it by encouraging me to never give up on my dreams. I wouldn't be self-publishing my book today, if it wasn't for him.

If I'm 100% honest, that first cover wasn't what I was imagining when I thought about it in my endless daydreams, but I think that's a good thing. I think that together, me and my designer have come up with an even stronger design than the one I originally envisioned.

It's not pretty like the other YA book covers you tend to see. But y'know what? I don't care. I'm not a frilly, pretty pink person. Neither is my book. Both me and my book are dark and straight to the point. And in this context, I think the cover for Synthetica couldn't have been any better.

It's bold. It's simple. It's striking. It's everything I wanted.

And here it is:

Synthetica...it's coming. 1st April 2015.

Just a tiny update...

So I have some super exciting - and super terrifying - news for y'all...



I have set a publication date for Synthetica.



The thought makes me want to simultaneously jump for joy and throw up out of nerves.

How? How on earth am I going to fit everything in before my proposed date?? Will the novel actually be ready (i.e. will I wake up the day before and realise the whole thing needs to be trashed and completely rewritten)?? Am I actually capable enough to do all my own promo?? Will anyone even WANT to feature/review my book?? Have I made a serious error and I'm not actually cut out to be a writer at all??

Does this mean that I finally have to admit to the world that I've written a book??


I can't even believe the amount of fears and anxieties I'm experiencing right now - it's about 100 times worse than anything I've felt during an IWSG post....and I haven't even published my book yet.

And yet...it's also strangely exhilarating. I finally have a timeline to complete everything in. I can finally put a plan together for marketing my book. It's finally snapping me into action.

And that is, if I'm completely honest, the real reason why I made the decision to publish my book. Without this deadline, I could go through revision after revision and keep putting off doing the deed with excuse after excuse. But I don't want to do that. I don't want to be a writer who writes, but never has the nerve to publish anything. I want to write, and I want people to read what I've written.

People might hate it. People might (hopefully) love it.

But I'm never going to know what I'm capable of until I actually publish it. It's time for me to stop messing around and get serious about my writing.

So (providing there are no major major catastrophes) pop the date in your diary, folks...

1st April 2015...Synthetica is coming.

Weekend Reads: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Cinder is another one of those books that I just haven't been able to escape from – it seems like everyone loves it, so once again I gave into peer pressure to see what all the hype was about. And boy am I glad I did!

Cinder is the first book in Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles series and it's futuristic retelling of the fairytale, Cinderella. Cinder, a cyborg mechanic living in New Beijing, dreams of freedom from her wicked stepmother, Adri. But as she's a second class citizen on account of her being a cyborg, she's forced to work as a mechanic to order to fund her stepmother's and step-sister's lifestyles. But with a mysterious deadly plague, letumosis, sweeping through the city, a Lunar queen intent on declaring war and Crown Prince Kai desperate to thwart the Lunar queen's plans, will Cinder finally get the life of freedom she's always dreamed of, or will she be forced into a life of a different kind of slavery?

I thought Cinder was really well written – I could vividly imagine New Beijing, with all it's bustle and noise and new technology (though that may just be because I lived in actual Beijing for a while...) and I loved the futuristic world that Meyer has built. She goes into just enough detail about Cinder's situation as a cyborg so that I was intrigued, but not overwhelmed with technical details. Cinder is a great heroine – she's funny, feisty, strong and independent, but she's also totally believable while she's at it. So many YA books these days seem to just plainly tell the reader 'she is feisty. She is funny. She is strong,' that it was nice to have a bit of change and to have Meyer actually show us Cinder's qualities, rather than have us simply read about them.

I really liked the different relationships between each of the characters, and getting inside each of their heads. I especially enjoyed seeing Cinder's feelings for Prince Kai develop. Thankfully, there was no case of the dreaded insta-love disease, and it was so good to see a natural relationship develop between them, even if it wasn't a full-blown romantic one (at least, not where this books leaves off...).

Overall, Cinder was fun, entertaining read that really drew me into the world of New Beijing. It didn't seem to suffer from the same affliction that some first books in YA series do – it offered the reader enough information to keep them guessing what would happen, but there was enough information in there that this book could stand pretty much stand on it's own, as well as being part of a series. Although there were a couple of slip-ups (i.e. in one scene, the rain stops but a moment later, it's still pattering against the window....) and the 'twist' at the end was a bit obvious (or so I thought), I really enjoyed reading Cinder and I'm really looking forward to picking up the rest of the The Lunar Chronicles series.

Final comments: A good, solid debut that will intrigue you and leave you wanting more (in a good way).

4/5 cupcakes

Book review: Half Bad by Sally Green

Warning: this review contains mild spoilers!

I was always going to be slightly biased towards this book as 1) I am a huge sucker for giant marketing campaigns and 2) it was written by a fellow North Westerner (still not entirely sure whereabouts in the North West of England Sally Green is from, but I'll take what I can get).

So, Half Bad is a YA book about witches. There are two types of witches – Black and White, and on a witch's seventeenth birthday they have a giving ceremony, which determines which kind of witch they are going to be (I think this is determined by what kind of witch gives them their blood at the ceremony, but I'm not entirely sure...).

Nathan is half and half – his mother was a White witch, but his dad is the most powerful Black witch alive. As he grows up, the Council (who are all White witches and believe Black witches should be wiped out) takes increasing interest in him, as they try to determine what kind of witch he'll be. They imprison Nathan in the hope that they can manipulate him into killing his own father, but he escapes and goes looking for his father instead. It's a race against time for him to 1) receive his three gifts at his giving ceremony on his seventeenth birthday (because if he doesn't, he'll die) and 2) find his father before the Council does.

The book starts with a bang – when we first meet Nathan he's locked up in a cage. Sally Green does a fantastic job of drawing you into Nathan's world, simply by starting the book is what is essentially the midpoint of the plot. The background to Nathan's world is intriguing, and I really enjoyed finding out about the rules of this world, the psychology of both White and Black witches, and about Nathan's own upbringing. However, around halfway through the book, I have to admit I started to get a teeny bit restless. As we follow Nathan on his journey to find his father/another Black witch called Mercury who can help him with his giving ceremony, he makes friends with another Black witch, escapes from Hunters (White witches trained to kill Black witches) numerous times and falls in love with a White witch (naturally). After the halfway point, I started to get a bit bored and found my attention wandering, as Nathan just seemed to be running around and not doing an awful lot apart from moping/thinking about Annalise/agonising over his future (think of the first half of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and you'll get my drift).

Overall, Half Bad is a great debut book and I like the fresh take Sally Green has on witches. The world building was good and I was satisfied with the explanations behind the character's motives and world. The writing is gritty, and the author doesn't skimp on the bloody or violent details like most YA authors tend to do. It's this style of writing that really makes you feel for Nathan and his situation, and makes the whole thing seem more real, as though there really could be witches running around trying to murder each other while us 'fains' (non-magic folk) wander around blissfully unaware. The main theme running throughout the book is the age old question of nature vs nurture, and as a reader, you're constantly wondering which direction Nathan will go – will he stay true to the beliefs he's been brought up with, or will the White witches and their endless persecution turn him into a witch's version of 'Frankenstein's monster'?

For me though, the last third of the book wasn't up to the same standard as the rest of it, and the action felt more rushed than punchy - the last few pages in particular were a whirlwind, and the last line, which was clearly supposed to end the book on a dramatic note, simply made me roll my eyes. There's also the case of the typical 'forbidden love'/insta-love that unfortunately seems to happen so often in YA literature these days; Nathan's love interest, Annalise, comes from the purest White witch family around - although naturally she rebels and decides to follow Nathan instead. To me, I think this aspect of the story could've been written slightly differently to make in more intriguing, as it's completely obvious from the moment Nathan first meets Annalise what's going to happen. Saying that, Half Bad a good start to the series and I'll definitely be checking out the second book when it arrives next year – I just won't be rushing out to buy it like I did with this one.

Final comments: A good solid debut, but a couple of slices short of a full cake I'm afraid.

3/5 cupcakes