SC POE'S INDIE EBOOK SAMPLER #15
Poe was in the mood for light, funny contemporary YA paranormals. Good indie versions are hard to find. Here are three worth sampling.
WICKED HUNGRY
By Teddy Jacobs
Wicked Evil Press, 2012
Poe agrees that this is a YA paranormal romp
First sentence: She said she'd always be there for me, but she's gone, and it's all my fault.
The author's own description says it—this is a paranormal romp, a tongue-in-cheek riff on all the tortured themes and memes common in contemporary YA paranormals. (Why is Stanley, a lifelong vegetarian, suddenly salivating over red meat? Is Stan's best friend's girl actually hitting on Stan? And can things ever work out between a girl who's allergic to the sun and a guy whose teeth ache when the moon is full?)
The hook is reminiscent (in good ways) of M.T. Anderson's Thirsty.
(SC Poe will sample a more straightforward fantasy by Teddy Jacobs, Return of the Dragons, in an upcoming post.)
If you like slick, fast, funny, and a guy MC for a change, then this may be your red meat.
CLOCKWISE
By Elle Strauss
Self-published, 2011
Poe thinks this is younger YA time-travel romance lite.
First sentences: Everyone has to live with something. For instance, my hair is the unmanageable kind of curly, the color of burnt toast. Imagine waking up every morning looking like the Lion King. . . .
The other unmanageable element in Casey's life is time. She keeps slipping back to the 19th century. She does it so often she keeps suitable clothes buried in the forest outside the Wayback version of her hometown.
The sample is too short to get into the plot, but it introduces the time-travel hook and the romance, and assures us that the story will be full of fun. There's a sequel, too—Clockwiser.
(Elle Strauss is a member of the Indie Elite blog team.)
If you like a light read with a historical twist, then slip backwards in time with this MC.
THE GHOST IN ME
By Shaunda Kennedy Wenger
Essemkay Company, 2011
Poe thinks this is younger YA paranormal romance lite
First sentence: A cockroach can live for eight days without its head.
The ghost in the title is named Wren, and she came with the house Myri Monaco lives in. Myri's just starting to age past her eternally-12-year-old ghost-friend; her newest preoccupation is Duey (who recently broke up with Myri's best flesh-and-blood-friend Roz).
This is another ebook whose sample is too short to get past the set-up and into the real story. But the blurb hints that Myri and Roz aren't the only girls Duey might be interested in. . . Wren might enter the romantic competition. So
If you like paranormal romance with a humorous twist, then this may be your next read.
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