Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Dying Light by Kory M. Shrum Excerpt, Giveaway & Interview


Dying Light
Jesse Sullivan
Book Four
Kory M. Shrum

Genre: Contemporary/Urban/Dark Fantasy

Publisher: Timberlane Press

Date of Publication:  November 2nd

ISBN: 0-9912158-9-3
ASIN: B014GMBV28

Number of pages: 220 Kindle/ebook
Number of pages:  465 paperback
Word Count: 79,000

Cover Artist: John K. Addis

Book Description:

In the wake of her handler’s death, Jesse has never felt more alone. Her best friend is distracted by a new love. Her mentor Rachel is missing and her boyfriend Lane isn’t returning her calls.

Worse, a Necronite with the ability to heal any wound wants to kill Jesse and absorb her power of pyrokinesis.

With little to hold her to Nashville, Jesse agrees to work as a freelance agent for Jeremiah Tate, a pharmaceutical tycoon in Chicago. Together they plot revenge against Caldwell, the mastermind responsible for the genocide of over 100,000 Necronites worldwide.

When Jeremiah fails to dominate Jesse and her pyrokinesis, tensions escalate, dividing her from her allies.

Then Caldwell gives Jesse an ultimatum she cannot refuse.


"Kory Shrum's writing is smart, imaginative, and insanely addictive!
I have begun to think of her books as my Kory Krack.
I beg of you to pick them up. You will NOT regret it!"
-Darynda Jones, NY Times Bestselling Author of the Charley Davidson Series


Excerpt:
Chapter 1
 “Come on,” I wail. “Jumping out of a burning building is not the craziest thing we’ve ever done!”
“If you hadn’t panicked, the building wouldn’t be on fire,” Ally snaps back. She tucks the bundled laptop under her arm and starts yanking open desk drawers. Post-it notes of every color fly through the air, followed by pens, a stapler, paperclips and a Kleenex box.
I search the open office space for another door. Nada. Only one way in and out.
“I had to do something.” I thought firebombing the bad guy was my one good idea on this mission to retrieve a laptop for Jeremiah. “If I hadn’t, we’d still be stuck with him.”
We both turn our gaze to the locked door twenty feet away. A row of unoccupied desks rests between us and where we entered. The office is spacious, with rows of silver tabletops running the length of the room. Spacious—but not spacious enough with a homicidal maniac just on the other side of the door.
Something large slams into the locked office door, rattling the walls. Ominous black smoke seeps through the cracks and the smell of campfire wafts in. That smell is surely going to cling to my hair until I wash it.
“Just because we’ve been reckless before doesn’t excuse it now.” Ally slams a desk drawer shut and yanks another open. Her disheveled blonde hair hides most of her face, revealing only terrified eyes. She gives up trying to find a weapon in the desk drawer and hurries to the window. Her gaze falls on the street below. “God, Jesse. No. We’ll never survive a fall from this height.”
I shrug and pucker my lips. “It’s fine. I’ve fallen from higher. We’ll be fine.”
She blinks at me.
“You’re forgetting about my shield thingy.” I’m talking out of my ass here, but there is no way I’m letting him come in here and hurt her. He can trade punches with me all day if he wants, but not with Ally. I’ll have to find a way to break the window, jump out, and shield her on the way down.
The door shakes for the fourth time and a thick crack appears to the left of the jamb. A thicker plume of black smoke rolls through the crack and floats to the ceiling. The white popcorn tiles disappear beneath the black fog.
I go to the window and look through the glass beside her. The glass is cold under my palms and my breath fogs on the surface despite the growing heat of the room. Down below, tiny cars cut corners around buildings. One could easily be mistaken for a child’s toy.
Shit, it really is far down.

About the Author:

Kory M. Shrum lives in Michigan with her partner and a ferocious guard pug. She has dabbled in everything from fortune telling to martial arts and when not reading or writing, she can be found teaching, traveling, or wearing a gi. She is the author of four books in the Jesse Sullivan contemporary fantasy series. She is also an active member of both SFWA and HWA.


Interview
Where are you from? I’m from Tennessee, but I currently live in East Lansing, Michigan. Talk about a temperature shift!
Tell us your latest news?
I just got engaged! Woo! :D
When and why did you begin writing?
I used to tell people that I started writing emo poetry in very private journals in high school as a way to vent all the feels. However, it turns out I started writing earlier than that. My cousin unearthed a poem I wrote when I was about ten. So it looks like I’ve been writing forever—probably also because of all the feels.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
When I changed my major to creative writing, (about age 20), poverty be damned!
What inspired you to write your first book?
A delirious hike up a mountainside in Italy. No really! If you’re not into mind-altering drugs, might I suggest an oxygen-deprived climb? It works just as well for knocking those ideas loose.
Do you have a specific writing style?
Uh, snarky? Is snarky a style?
How did you come up with the title?
Dying Light is the latest in the Jesse Sullivan series. All the books so far have had the word ‘dying’ in it. If I don’t keep this series short we’re going to start getting “Dying for a cookie” or “Touch that and you’ll be a dying” as titles….
Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Never give up.
How much of the book is realistic?
For a book based on a girl who dies over and over again for a paycheck—surprisingly, quite a bit.
Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
Yes, but I won’t say which ones. That’ll give it all away!
What books have most influenced your life most?
All of Anne Rice’s vampire chronicles. Nancy A. Collin’s Sonja Blue books and all things Stephen King.
If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Probably Stephen King. Though god help me if he started talking about baseball.
What book are you reading now?
Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch and I’m listening to Wuthering Heights on audiobook
Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Raasch is relatively new and I like Snow Like Ashes. I also like Angela Roquet, author of the Lana Harvey Reapers Inc series.
What are your current projects?
I’m finishing up the 5th Jesse Sullivan novel Worth Dying For, some ekphrastic poetry (poems about art), and a YA novel about a girl who is a disfigured badass.

What would you like my readers to know?
The first book in my series, Dying for a Living is free on all ereader platforms (ibooks, kindle, kobo, nook, etc.)






Tour giveaway

3 audiobooks (as audible codes; no audible subscription necessary

A signed boxset (Books 1-4) in paperback (International)

Books 1-4 ebook set Jesse Sullivan Novels



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