Countdown to Escape Day: -149 years!

Hello, Dear Reader! I hope this post finds you well, or as well as can be expected in these ever-changing, strangest of times. For me, the last week and a half of watching the Cubs play ball (and fly the W!) has brought back a small, incredibly tenuous, sense of comfort. 

You might have noticed, I took a week off from posting chapters from Quest. It's been a little hectic around here plus I had to get the kids ready for Online School this week. Chapter 12 will be up Friday....

But, today, I'm wishing you a Happy Escape Day!

Countdown to Escape Day: -150 years away!

Fifty years ago, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong planted an American flag on the Moon, they had no idea they were also ensuring an escape plan - set to go down two hundred years in the future - would go off without a hitch. Yes, that means Escape Day is only 150 years away!

Happy Escape Day! (Only 151 years to go!)

One hundred and fifty-one years from now, Dr. Samuel Marks and his accomplices will travel more than six and a half centuries to escape the consequences of saving 100,000 lives. In doing so, they formed The Society in the Shadow of Civilization, and began work to protect themselves from the Future they had to flee.

The original Society members first celebrated the day in 1514, and so the tradition continues....

You won't like how it ends....

(This post is part of the A Shadow in Doubt, ten years later, read along...)

As we near the end of reliving (via reading) Sam's 2006, there's something I have to tell you. See, when Mom was halfway through her initial read of ASID, I told her she wouldn't like the end. Magic Yoda 8-ball was right. Like it, she did not. 

Despite agreeing with my assessment, to my surprise she said she enjoyed ASID more than TSW. My warning allowed her time to prepare herself, so, she said it was okay I left it that way.  Still, I wondered what other readers - those without the benefit of my warnings - might think....

Tending the Flamella Tree

(This post is part of the A Shadow in Doubt, ten years later, read along...)

Here we are, on to Chapter 25 - Confrontation - already.... So much has happened since the last post, I don't know where to start!

A Rude Awakening and Rough Start to the Day

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

Talk about a wake up call! It goes to show, even if you're expecting someone, you should check to see who's on the other side of the door before you open it. Right?

Midnight Rambling: A Bedtime Story

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

By the fourth day Sam's head was probably spinning out of control. Wouldn't yours? To go from this feeling of being watched for so long, to meeting your Watcher, to being attacked in just over 48 hours?

Ten years ago, right about now....

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

In real life, ten years ago, I was a busy mom of a fifteen month old, a restaurant manager, and scribbling away what words I could between diaper changes, feedings and shifts at work. The first story sparks for the Society in the Shadow of Civilization wouldn't come to me for a few more years. But is the tenth anniversary of where that story begins. Or, Sam's telling of it, anyway.

Ten years ago, right around this time, Samantha Marquet would be finishing up writing an assignment from one of her clients before heading out to run some errands. It wasn't a great day, getting a rejection email from a magazine first thing in the morning and dealing with a rude client later, she was in a pretty bad mood. Until her visit with Mr. Zhou at the bookstore. From there, it just got weird....

And, it will only get weirder in the days and weeks that follow! If you don't have your copy of The Shadow Watcher yet, get it free now, and join me in retracing Sam's journey, ten years later!

Amazon (US, UK, AU & CA) Kindle edition*
Barnes&Noble.com Nook edition
iTunes iBooks edition
Kobo
Smashwords all ebook formats

Check back later tonight for a Midnight Rambling on what was Sam thinking!?!?!?

As always, thanks for stopping by! Hope you're having a beautiful day, night, or sometime in the between....

Roari

Before Sam Met The Shadow Watcher....

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

Monday marks ten years since the day Sam and her Shadow Watcher first met. For those who wish to join me, I'll be re-reading chapters from The Shadow Watcher and A Shadow in Doubt on their corresponding tenth anniversaries, and posting along the way. 

To set the mood, I'm sharing the original Prologue from The Shadow Watcher, since it's since been taken out. It's some of Sam's backstory, and I wound up working most of it in to the first chapters instead. Still, it gives a hint of what her mindset was, before everything changes....   

Behind the Society: The Characters Less Mentioned

For Part Three of my little Escape Day Celebration, I'm sharing a little more about the Characters we meet in Fore Shadows: Escape 2169....

A Glimpse into 2169

In honor of Escape Day, today I'm sharing some insight into the Future Dr. Samuel Marks and his fellow travelers left behind. The events we've seen happening in the world today, and over the last fifteen years (probably even longer, really) are the foundation for the Future as I've imagined in the Society in the Shadow of Civilization stories. I see it as neither dystopian or utopian, maybe because it's a future not too far away. Though, in a way. it's on the verge of becoming either in 2169.

Countdown to Escape Day - only 153 years to go!

Yes, you read that right. August 5th, 2169 is Escape Day - celebrated today by the Society, and in the future by Samuel's post-escape supporters, as the day the founders of the Society in the Shadow of Civilization fled to the past, to escape the U.C.E. In honor of Samuel, Pose, Voorhia, Vega, Eleanor, Tollack, and Marcus, I'll be sharing some tidbits throughout the day about the Future as they left it, and the inspirations behind it.

But first, a little more about Escape 2169 itself.

Summer Society Promotions

The minis and I are really trying not to melt here... Definitely a pool day! I hope it's not nearly as hot wherever you are. If it is, hopefully you have plenty of water nearby! One of my favorite ways to beat the heat is floating in the pool with a good book. With the minis I don't get to use the floaty-things much,though, and the books tend to get wet, so, I don't get to as often!

Speaking of pools and reading....

When Time Travelers Bump into Themselves...

I know there's a good deal of debate about whether or not it would be possible, but, in my world, the Society in the Shadow of Civilization, it happens. More than once.

The first instance in the Society in the Shadow of Civilization is in The Shadow Watcher, when Sam and Michael travel to Costa Rica in search of the Flamella tree. They didn't expect to see anyone except Adjatay - but, they see themselves across a ravine...   

A Shadow in Doubt: Chapter Four - Duty Call

Happy Saturday! Today, I'm sharing Chapter Four from A Shadow in Doubt, where Sam ponders her situation, Jay and Kristoff make her want to gag, and you'll find out who I was listening to while writing that part of the book....

Chapter Four

11/18/2006 - Duty Call

A groan near my head woke me. My hair fell in my face when I lifted my head; I tried to push it out of the way, but it just fell back in the same place. A male chuckled softly behind me - from the sofa - and my heart skipped a beat hoping it was Michael. I rolled over, disappointed it was Kristoff smiling at me from the couch.

I couldn’t figure out how he got there, so I asked, “How?”

He smiled, holding out a can of Pepsi. “Artemis let me in when I rang the bell,” he replied. Because it’s perfectly natural for a cat to answer a doorbell in a secret cavern.

I accepted his offering with gratitude, “Thank you.” Two gulps down, I was awake. “I hope you brought something stronger for Sleeping Beauty here.”

He tapped the travel thermos on the end table next to him. “Never leave home without it.”

“Come on Jay,” I gave her a shove, “it’s time to get up.” Then to Kristoff, “Take the lid off, she’s gotta smell it.”

Character Spotlight: Tollack - The Elder

Fore Shadows: Escape 2169 was public on Writing.com first. (Most of what I write starts there.) Over the years, I've had all sorts of feedback on my writing - good, bad, soul-crushing - but, I think my favorite comment on any of my work, to date, was simply "I love Tollack!" I knew I'd accomplished my task.

See, when Sam first learns of the Society in the Shadow of Civilization in The Shadow Watcher, Tollack Pennington isn't so lovable. Having put himself in control of the world her grandfather founded, Tollack is less than thrilled to see Sam show up, because, as Samuel's heir, she could challenge his position. And she does.

What Sam doesn't know is the complex, centuries-old history between Tollack and her family. As her grandfather's best friend, Tollack was more than just one of the founding members of the Society - he was Samuel's most trusted confidant. But the Elder Sam meets is a bitter, jealous, power thirsty dictator. So, how did he go from Earth vacation fishing buddy to nemesis? Yes, it has something to do with a woman ... or two. At least, that's part of it....

Society (in the Shadow of Civilization) Talk

I've been on a break from the Society since A Shadow in Doubt. Mostly. The timelines, the hopping, the Fore Shadows, and the events unfolding were making my head spin. I have scenes, little bits and pieces, scattered about all over six hundred and seventy some-odd years now. Sometimes the best way for me to stitch the pieces together is to step away and come back later, with a fresh perspective.

So, I wrote something else for NaNoWriMo again this year, then let my brain turn into jelly for most of December. Now, it's eight days into January. Time to get it back together!

The Novica Christmas Parade

The Christmas Parade was last night, and I missed it! It's not always easy to get down there for these things, especially when I make so many other trips down for family events during the holidays. Hopefully we'll make it next year.

Novica is based on my hometown. It's not an exact replica, though one commonality is the annual Christmas Parade, traditionally held the first Saturday of December. And, because Sam loves her hometown as much I do, and the timing was right, the parade made its way into A Shadow in Doubt. Since I missed out on the festivities this year, I decided I'd share Sam's version of the '06 parade with you....