Book Blitz & Excerpt: Remember, by Tara C. Allred

Remember

A Prelude Novella to The Existence Series

Tara C. Allred

Science Fiction

Out October 2020

Publisher: Patella Publishing

One invention and two men hoping to change the way humans connect—through memory exchanges—but days before it’s released, one man realizes it may do more harm than good.

Foster Grady pleads with doctors to give his dying wife a moment of reprieve. He wants her to experience his creation: the ability to relive their life together through his memories. But when doctors refuse, terminal patient, Ashyr Harmon, convinces Foster to give him the chance instead.

The exchange becomes Ashyr’s lifeline and the two form a friendship and business deal which ignites dangerous consequences.

BEYOND THE END, BOOK 1 of THE EXISTENCE SERIES – Coming Nov 2020

Other Books In The Existence Series:

Beyond the End

The Existence Series, Book One

Publisher : Patella Publishing

Release Date: November 20, 2020

Nothing else exists—at least that’s what she’s been told.

Strong-willed teenager Leilani Grady is suffocating on her family’s island. She wants off, but her parents say the rest of Earth is destroyed.

When a stranger shows up, Leilani realizes her parents have fed her a life of lies.

Ashyr Harmon shares a complicated history with her parents—and now he wants Leilani’s help with saving his society. It’s her chance to escape the only place she knows. But Leilani must decide who she trusts: her flesh and blood or this man who promises to fulfill her dream.

Amazon

Excerpt

Both men pressed shoulder-to-shoulder to look down at the resume, neither commenting on the fact Mariana had emailed it to at least one of them earlier in the week.

Regardless, while they looked, she looked too. Past the pizza boxes, down a long table against the east wall. She slid a foot back toward the table and, with a lean of her head, read physiology handwritten across a banker box. Then a slide of the foot to the right to see the scribble in permanent marker mind vs the brain across a journal cover, and then to a loose sheet of paper with a sketch of a glove with the word pressable next to circles which lined the palm.

Her feet had shifted ninety degrees when she heard Ashyr say, “We want to hire you.”

She looked behind her back, a grin spilling over her face. “Just like that?”

He shrugged. “I almost died before I discovered this…this…”

“Em-Path” Folsom added, standing directly next to Ashyr as if the two spoke as one.

“It saved my life. And showed me what to live—”

“And we don’t have time to waste,” Folsom inserted.

Ashyr twisted to face Folsom, nodding his head, as if Folsom had said the key words. “Yeah. It’s about timing. And you seem like an excellent fit.”

Mariana turned her focus back to scanning the details of the room. On the north wall, a table presented itself as a technology graveyard with broken tablets, game consoles, power cables, remote control boxes, and all sorts of other things she didn’t recognize. She felt awkward, her back toward these men who had just offered her a job. But an urgent curiosity kept drawing her forward, her feet moving toward a dark room, only partially visible, tucked in the far corner between the back table and the west wall, which was lined with a lab sink, a long counter, and a fridge. The room’s door was ajar. Taped to the center of the door, she read the handwritten note.

Please Do Not Disturb—Memory Exchange in Progress.

She drew her head back and turned around to face her interviewers. Her breath caught in her throat, the question ready now. “What’s the pay?” As long as it was higher than minimum wage, she would have to take the job.

Ashyr stood taller. “What do you want it to be?”

Folsom released a sharp cough. “Within reason.” He gave her an apologetic grin. “We don’t have much to offer yet, but with your help finding the support we need, we will soon.”

Ashyr stepped closer toward her. His clear blue eyes pulling her in again. “We are committed to making this work. We’re investing everything we have into this. In other words, we’re super, absolutely, insanely committed to this. And we want to make this a win for you too.”

Mariana nodded slowly, unsure of what exactly she was agreeing to.

“Help secure us a sponsor in—what—?” He twisted looks from Folsom to Mariana, “Two? Three months? In three months. You secure us a sponsor in three months and…” his voice turned soft, dipping into a whisper, “we’ll make you a partner with us.” Then he flung back to face Folsom. “Right? She helps get us a sponsor and she has partial ownership, with you, me, and Brody. It’ll be the four of us.” He looked again, back and forth between the two of them. “A percentage.” He started waving his hands around as if a number wasn’t within his mental reach. “We draft up all that legal stuff. We’ll figure it out. Together, we all make this dream come alive.” He whirled back to face her with a grin. With a lopsided tilt of the head, he said, “It’ll be worth it for all of us.”

Folsom stepped forward, the three of them forming a triangle.

Ashyr straightened. His clear blue eyes met hers. From him to Folsom’s rich blue eyes, Mariana looked at both of them, a nod growing inside her, just as Ashyr said, “So, you in?”

About the Author

TARA C. ALLRED is an award-winning author, instructional designer, and educator. She has been recognized as a California Scholar of the Arts for Creative Writing and is a recipient of the Howey Awards for Best Adult Book and Best Adult Author. She lives in Utah with her husband.

Her published works include REMEMBER (The Existence Series), SANDERS’ STARFISH and UNAUTHORED LETTERS (John Sanders Series), HELPING HELPER and THE OTHER SIDE OF QUIET, a 2015 Kindle Book Award Finalist and Whitney Award Winner.

Through online coaching, she helps other writers unleash their creative stories.

To learn more about the author, visit www.taracallred.net.

Contact Links

Purchase Link

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October 27, 2020October 27, 2020

Book Blitz: Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf + Giveaway

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
(The Big Bad Wolf Trilogy, #1)
Janie Marie
Out October 27th 2020
Coming of Age, Fairy Tales, Young Adult

Fantasizing about Trevor Grimm is Kylie Hood’s favorite escape from her cruel reality. So, when he asks for her help on a school project, sparks are bound to fly and her dreams are going to come true . . .

Not in this fairy tale.

No, everything changes when Kylie meets Logan Grimm, Trevor’s older cousin and a professional MMA fighter some call the Big Bad Wolf.

He’s the first person to peer under the hood she hides beneath. He’s the first person to see the signs that something is wrong. He’s the first person to give her any attention. And he’s offering to help protect her.

But Logan’s world isn’t safe. It’s dirty, exhilarating, and dangerous. It’s everything Kylie needs to stay away from.

Goodreads / Amazon

EXCERPT:

“I’ll be there,” came a male voice that wasn’t Trevor’s. “Put five on me. Yeah, I have it.”

Kylie snapped her head up and forgot the growing pain behind her eyes, because what she was seeing could only be a gift from God.

It was a boy. No, he was a man. A man-boy. He was more mature than the boys she went to school with, but not that much older than her—maybe early twenties. A hot twenty-something, at that. With the perfect body, glistening with a light sheen of sweat, he was glorious. Solid and lean—not an inch of fat. Just pure muscle and sun-kissed skin painted with beautiful tattoos along his arms, chest and—dear God—the attractive V dipping below his low-sitting shorts.

Breathe, girl.

She sucked in a breath. Thank goodness he hadn’t noticed her sitting there. He rummaged through the fridge, his phone still pressed to his ear. It looked as though he’d found what he wanted because he stood, shutting the door as he lifted an apple to his lips.

The man was a god. And he was about to see her sitting there. Staring at him.

“Nah, I think I already fucked her, didn’t I?” He took a bite of the apple, finally making eye contact with her. He froze, staring at her with the same shocked expression she had stamped across her face.

Kylie gulped, unsure of how to explain who she was and what she was doing there, eavesdropping, all while admiring the apple juice dripping down his chin.

“What?” he said, shaking out of his daze but not looking away from her. “No, I’ll pick one later.” He wiped his chin, and with a jerk of his head, his black hair shifted away from his dark-brown eyes. “I said, I’ll pick. Yeah. See ya.”

Kylie started sweating under his intense stare as he ended the call. At first, he just kept staring at her. His gaze drifted over what he could see of her face and body, which couldn’t have been much, but even with her hood up, she felt as if he could see right into her soul.

Too afraid to speak, Kylie looked back down at the table, hoping he would just leave her alone. He was too intense for her, and she didn’t need to know him to understand that.

“What’s your name?” He spoke roughly and to the point.

She knew he wouldn’t care that she was the freak of their school. It was easy to see he was the kind of person who demanded and received.

She started to say, “Ky—” but Trevor’s return prevented her from answering him.

“Hey,” Trevor greeted the man who had yet to stop his inspection of her. “I didn’t think you’d be here today. Don’t you have a fight tonight?”

Trevor dumped his work on the table, causing her to flinch.

The man-boy narrowed his eyes on her. “I do,” he told Trevor, still watching her. “Are you going to ignore your friend, or introduce me?”

Trevor looked over at her and said, “Oh, this is Kylie. Kylie, this is my cousin Logan. I live with him while my dad is overseas.”

Logan took another bite of his apple as Trevor took a seat. She nodded in acknowledgment and looked away. She wasn’t used to meeting new people anymore, especially sexy guys like Logan.

“What’s your last name?” Logan asked.

Kylie couldn’t stop herself from jerking her head up. He had moved closer, standing opposite her now. His eyes never left her face. He no doubt figured she was a freak like everyone else did.

“Hood,” she said, wringing her hands together on her lap. “Kylie Hood.”

The small twitch at the corner of his mouth threatened to turn into a smirk, but he took another bite of his apple, finishing it and tossing it into the trash.

“Well, Kylie Hood,” he said, sounding amused, “it’s a pleasure to meet you.” He stuck out his hand as he cut Trevor a dark look, but he focused on her as he grinned. “Logan Grimm.”

About the Author

Janie Marie is a native Texan and resides in her hometown north of Austin, Texas, where she devotes her time to family, pets, and her writing.
Much of her life experiences–good and a lot of bad–are where she has chosen to draw inspiration from to create her characters and stories. It’s important to her to create the kind of characters she needs or needed at one point in time because she wanted to create something only the saddest souls would recognize as brave and strong.
Be ready for raw, emotional tales, as Janie never holds back. With her darkest thoughts she found light is still possible, that the sad girl can sometimes glow the brightest. Because she is beauty surrounded by darkness.