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I’m really please today to host a fellow author, H. M.
Gooden. She writes paranormal romance novels and the first book of her series, Rise
of Light, Dream Of Darkness, is only .99c.
Dream of darkness by H. M. Gooden
Blurb
Tired of moving yet again, Cat McLean finds herself in the
town of Valleyview when her dad is transferred.
And if that wasn't enough to deal with, shortly after their
move, Cat's involved and in a near-fatal car accident which lands her in the
hospital where strange visions plague her recovery. When she wakes to find that
she has the ability to see auras and to heal others, she's horrified to
discover an ancient evil that means to destroy her new home.
Cat must join forces with her sister and a new friend in a
race to save her new town. Will she learn how to harness her new powers in
time?
Or will she succumb to the darkness she fears?
Excerpt
The girls finished lunch without any attention from other
students, other than an occasional glance. As they walked back to the office,
Cat tried to avoid catching anyone's eye, wishing again that she was more
outgoing or had a thicker skin. Vanessa stopped abruptly and Cat had to pull up
short to avoid running into her.
"How's the first day working out?"
A boy Cat didn't know smiled at them and she felt herself
color involuntarily.
Damn it!
"So far so good!" Vanessa chirped.
The boy flashed another smile, and be damned if his hair
didn't appear to ripple when he moved. He looked like a movie star, with his
dark blond hair, dimples and grey eyes. He was probably about six feet tall,
slightly taller than Cat, and well built. He looked directly at Cat, giving
another blinding, toothy smile.
"We haven't met, but I guess you must be Catherine.
It's not every day we get new students. I'm Declan Boyer. I'm in History with
your sister."
Cat found herself feeling uncomfortable, but not because of
his good looks. A weird, cold, and empty sensation washed over her. It felt
completely out of place in the bright hallway, standing next to a guy who could
be a homecoming hero.
"Hey, nice to meet you, too. It's Cat. Um, people call
me Cat, generally." She managed to croak out her reply, wincing at how
dumb she must sound.
Vanessa immediately noticed she was off and came to her
rescue.
"Hey, Declan, do you know who we'd talk to about a
track or running team? Cat was on the team back home before we moved and wants
to try out here."
He nodded. "Of course! You want to talk to Ms. Fisk.
She's the Art and Music teacher, but doubles as the cross-country coach. There
aren't a lot of teachers here, I mean, the school only has 300 students from
grade nine to twelve, so a lot of the teachers double as coaches." He
looked at his watch. "I have a few minutes, I’d be happy to take you to
her office."
Cat followed behind Vanessa and Declan, trying to figure out
what felt so off. It was more than her usual discomfort with new people. This
felt bigger and she knew she needed to listen to the feeling. It reminded her
of the time she'd gone swimming with Vanessa and some of the neighbourhood
kids. She'd refused to jump off the dock into the water when she was dared,
walking out instead because of a weird feeling she'd had telling her not to do
it. The next kid who'd jumped had hit a broken board and torn their leg badly.
She had the same cold, dark feeling now that she'd had while wading in the
water that day. Something about this beautiful guy made her as scared as she'd
been back then.
"And here you go!" said Declan, bowing and waving
his arm as though producing a rabbit out of a hat. "Ms. Fisk, in
person."
A short and powerfully built Asian woman in her mid-forties
smiled at him.
"Oh, Declan, always the charmer!" she said, as she
fluttered and preened at his attention.
Declan smiled suavely, turning back to Cat. "I hope you
find what you need. I'm on my way to a quick drama club meeting before lunch is
over."
Vanessa straightened up, looking interested in something for
the first time. Declan noticed and extended the invite to her.
"We're planning the show for the annual spring review.
It's going to be a big one this year. We could use more players, if you're
interested in joining us."
Vanessa looked at Cat with excitement. "Do you want to
come?"
Cat shook her head. "You go ahead. I'll be busy here
for awhile. I'll meet you outside after school, at the parking lot doors."
Vanessa smiled and gave a quick 'see ya' wave, before
turning and following Declan down the hall without looking back.
Cat watched them walk away, still feeling an odd sense of
unease, turning to see Ms. Fisk watching Declan walk away fondly. Ms. Fisk
switched her attention to Cat, giving her a friendly once over.
"So, what brings you here today? Are you a budding
artiste, looking for extra work perhaps? A musician? What can I help you with
today, my dear?"
Cat smiled, finding the friendly warmth from the teacher
relaxing after the oddness that had come with meeting Declan.
"Sorry, no. I'm not the artist in my family. But I'd
heard you were the person to talk to about a cross-country or distance running
club? I was on the track and cross-country team at my last school. I'd like to
continue here, unless I missed try-outs, or whatever." Cat felt calm
asking this teacher, warming to her open and attentive face.
Ms. Fisk smiled, regretfully. "Well, the track team is
done until spring, but we do have cross-country into November, depending on
weather. It isn't a very large group, so there's no need for try-outs. I can
introduce you to the other students at the next practice on Wednesday and you
can consider yourself officially a part of the team now, if you want. The last
actual meet is in a couple of weeks."
Cat took down the rest of the information on a corner of a
notebook, promising to be at the practice. Maybe she'd get a chance to talk to
someone outside of class in an environment she was comfortable in. Feeling more
optimistic than before, Cat checked her schedule and headed to her next class,
English. Apparently they were learning Shakespeare, according to the titles on
her book list. She sighed again, and prayed to whoever listened to high school
students. Please spare me from a group read along...
Author’s Bio
H. M. Gooden has been scribbling on everything since she
first learned how to hold a pencil. While often told that her handwriting was
atrocious, she persisted, and upon discovering computers and learning how to
type, she realized that she was no longer limited by her (admittedly) messy
writing.
Unfortunately, life and work and family have conspired to make it only possible to write in the wee hours or at coffee shops, so most of her love of reading and writing are indulged at times when only vampires and insomniacs abound.
Beginning in October of 2017, her love of writing and the characters in the world she has created burst into public view in her first book, Dream of Darkness, which follows the adventures of a group of girls fighting evil with abilities that H. M. Gooden would love to have.
As a result, 4 am has become even busier trying to find out what will happen to her paranormal buddies in the future, and book six, seven and eight are in the works.
Unfortunately, life and work and family have conspired to make it only possible to write in the wee hours or at coffee shops, so most of her love of reading and writing are indulged at times when only vampires and insomniacs abound.
Beginning in October of 2017, her love of writing and the characters in the world she has created burst into public view in her first book, Dream of Darkness, which follows the adventures of a group of girls fighting evil with abilities that H. M. Gooden would love to have.
As a result, 4 am has become even busier trying to find out what will happen to her paranormal buddies in the future, and book six, seven and eight are in the works.
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