Readers, I'm so excited to finally share with you the project I've been working on. It's called Darkest Worlds: A Dystopian Anthology and it's just what it sounds like, a kick-butt compilation of six novellas from today's top indie dystopian authors (I know, how did I get in there, right?). The anthology rocks, but the best part of it all is being able to work with some really top-notch authors. I've carved out a special place in my heart for these five fantastic ladies and you will too. The anthology will drop mid-September for a killer price and here's the best part: all proceeds go to a charity helping grow literacy in inner city youth called Girls Write Now. 

Here's the blurb to get you interested and stay tuned for release information.

Nessa: A Breeders Story by Katie French, author of The Breeders: Eighteen-year-old Nessa knows what it’s like to be an endangered species. Growing up in a dying world where nine out of ten babies are born male, she survives by trusting no one. When Marlin, the nineteen-year-old gunslinger, kills the man who has been keeping her enslaved, Nessa decides he might be her meal ticket. What she doesn’t realize is love is still possible, even in their decimated world.

MOON by S.K. Falls, author of World of Shell and Bone: Loyalty. Obedience. Patriotism. Moon Stewart has no doubt that the New Amanian way of life is the right way. The only way. But was there ever a time when she felt differently? In this companion novella to the dystopian bestseller World of Shell and Bone, the secrets of Moon’s past are revealed, giving readers a glimpse into the mind of their favorite antagonist.

The First Unforgivable Thing by Zoe Cannon, author of The Torturer’s Daughter: When a dissident working undercover as an interrogator finds himself in an interrogation room with the only girl he’s ever loved, he chooses to defy both the totalitarian regime and the resistance by helping her escape—but she has an agenda of her own…

The Keeper by A.G. Henley, author of The Scourge: a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Award. Peree knows his duty as the new Keeper of the Water Bearer, Fennel, is to make sure his people get every drop of their share of the water she collects when the flesh-eating Scourge roam the forest. He will motivate her, distract her, do anything he can to keep her working. He knows his duty is to his people and his people alone. What he doesn’t know is that he’s falling in love with her.

Survival Lessons by Kate Avery Ellison, author of Frost: A young Farther prisoner named Eva escapes into the monster-filled wilderness of the Frost with a band of fellow inmates, all of whom are harboring secrets…but little do they know that Eva has secrets of her own. Set in the world of The Frost Chronicles.

clean slate complex by Megan Thomason, author of the daynight series: Homeless Alexa Knight agrees to help the do-gooder non-profit The Second Chance Institute in return for medical care for her sick mother. The SCI is wooing the poor and downtrodden into their Clean Slate Complexes–where “everything is provided” from jobs to food, shelter, clothing, and education. Unfortunately, as with all things that sound too good to be true, there’s a catch…


Katie French
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-French/192856087473564
Twitter: https://twitter.com/katielfrench
Blog: http://www.katiefrenchbooks.com

S.K. Falls
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/skfallssc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skfallssc

Zoe Cannon
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZoeCannonAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cannonzoe
Blog: http://www.zoecannon.com

A.G. Henley
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorAGHenley
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AG_Henley
Blog: http://www.aghenley.com

Kate Avery Ellison
Blog: http://thesouthernscrawl.blogspot.com/p/the-frost-chronicles.html
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Katiewriting

Megan Thomason
facebook: www.facebook.com/daynight.series
Twitter: twitter.com/megan_thomason
Blog: www.meganthomason.com

Girls Write Now
http://www.girlswritenow.org
The Girls Write Now mission is to provide guidance, support, and opportunities for at-risk and underserved girls from New York City’s public high schools to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy school, career and life choices.

It's finally here: the sequel to one of my favorite novels of last year, The Defiance by A.G. Henley. She's been kind enough to share some excerpts with us to pique your interest. Enjoy. 


Excerpts from The Defiance, by A.G. Henley


Excerpt (#1) from The Defiance by A.G. Henley:

Only the odd snore rumbles from the other shelters as I crack the door open and slide out. The forest isn’t so quiet. Crickets hum hypnotically, leaves shift and sigh in the breeze, and frogs and bats keep the time with their cries. If the greenheart trees offer the forest its scent and flavor, then its animal inhabitants provide the tune.

I slink like prey from dark spot to dark spot, minding the sound of my steps. There’s probably a Groundling guard somewhere. The moon illuminates the path, so I walk under the shade of the tree branches. There’s a luster ahead.

For a long time I thought the water hole glowed. Calli finally told me the moon—which I’ve heard can be as slim as a curled-up leaf or as spherical as a stone—reflects in the water hole below. It seems unfair, somehow. The sighted see not only the fickle moon, they see two.

The water sweeps softly onto the shore, then recedes, dancing with itself, careless who hears it. I hold under the cover of the forest, soaking in the sounds and scents of the night.

After a few minutes, I hear more deliberate movements in the treetops: the low thump of quiet footsteps along the walkway overhead. They stop above my head. A soft birdcall greets me. I wave, letting them know it’s safe.

The rope ladder dives toward me, bumping against the tree trunk as it falls, and I steady it as Peree descends. My heart pulses in my chest as he draws near. I feel like I’ve stolen these moments with him, moments we’ll have to eventually give back. I don’t want to steal time with him. I want it to be ours to keep.


Excerpt (#2) from The Defiance, by A.G. Henley:

The morning passes quickly. There was more wood to move into the storeroom in the caves this morning, new stores of salt meat and dried beans to deliver, and our herbalist, Marjoram, told me she has some poultices and teas she wants me to bring in. Marj was underprepared for the accidents and illnesses resulting from such a long confinement last time. She won’t make the same mistake again.

There’s plenty of space in the storeroom—it was almost empty by the time we left the caves after the Reckoning. It’s an easy job to stow the supplies neatly along the natural stone shelves. My stomach rumbles, anticipating a midday meal, as I cross the cavern to the storeroom carrying the second-to-last load of wood. Even the lingering stench of crampberries doesn’t deter my appetite.

 “Fennel.” The word whispers across the cave.

 I freeze. “Who’s there?”

 “Stay away from the Lofty. Groundlings and Lofties aren’t meant to be together. You’ve been warned.”

 I can’t tell anything about the speaker—man, woman, their age. But quiet as the person’s words are, it’s hard to miss the implied threat. I drop most of the wood, keeping one thick log as a potential weapon. The person is between the passage out and me.

 I hold the log firmly in front of me, trying to tame my wild breathing so I can hear. Fear strangles my thoughts. An indefinable amount of time passes. Finally wrestling the courage to move, I step forward, keeping the log at the ready.

 And I cough.

 The air is wrong, and not simply human-waste wrong. Something else. There’s light where there shouldn’t be, and . . . smoke. That’s what I’m tasting and smelling.

 There’s a fire in the passageway, and it’s blocking my way out. Terror doesn’t steal through me. It rips my head off.

Purchase on Amazon. 

AUTHOR BIO:
A.G. Henley is the author of the BRILLIANT DARKNESS series. The first novel in the series, THE SCOURGE, was a finalist for the 2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award.

A.G. is also a clinical psychologist, which means people either tell her their life stories on airplanes, or avoid her at parties when they’ve had too much to drink. Neither of which she minds. When she’s not writing fiction or shrinking heads, she can be found herding her children and their scruffy dog, Guapo, to various activities while trying to remember whatever she’s inevitably forgotten to tell her husband. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Author links:
Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

It's officially been a year since I released The Breeders. It's been an amazing ride and I am so happy I've gotten to share my dream with the world. To celebrate I'm offering a signed first edition paperback copy on GoodReads. Enter below and good luck!