The
Part That Doesn’t Burn
Goetia
Series
Book
One
Sam
Poling
Genre: Dark Fantasy
Publisher: Tirgearr Publishing
Date of Publication: March 23rd,
2016
ISBN: 9781310401916
ASIN: B01BW0Q2Y4
Number of pages: 319
Word Count: 97,000
Cover Artist: Cora Graphics
Book Description:
In an overpopulated city-state
where technology and magic are forbidden by the corrupt church, young witch,
Mirabel Fairfax, plots the creation of a deadly plague to cull the burdensome
rabble.
That is, until she falls in love with
the very alchemist she has been deceiving.
Now, with soul-hungry geists
flooding the city, the church scrambling for their prey, and her own mind at
war with itself, Mirabel must decide what she's fighting for before she loses
everything to the evils of Autumnfall.
Excerpt:
Mirabel waited
in the darkness. Each passing second
made it exponentially less likely the power would return.
“Mirabel? Did we
lose power?” Felix’s voice quivered in the darkness.
“It should
return momentarily.”
They waited.
Mirabel could practically feel Felix’s demeanor evaporating.
“M-Mirabel?”
“Unbelievable,
the singular time I am protecting company on the geistlines, a train dies. We
are not coal powered. We are coming to a stop. Perhaps your pessimism rang
true. Sour fortune must have followed you from Haugen. We need to leave.”
“L-leave? As in,
leave the train, and go out there?”
“Felix, without
power the only thing stopping a geist from swooping in here and taking your
face off is nothing. One hundred percent nothing. Essentially, we already have
the cons of being outside, along with the narrow space of being inside. Not a
survivable combination.”
Without
hesitation Felix took to gathering his tools, and corralling them into his
bags.
“No time for
that.”
She tugged him
out of their room and through the train car. One side of the car featured the
cabins. Asleep and unaware, no one else left their rooms. Windows with their
blinds drawn and a faint cyan shimmering through adorned the other side.
“They’re lining
both sides of the tracks. How long do we have?” said Felix.
“Geist behavior
is a constant mystery, even to me, but eventually some will strike. Even those
with eternity run out of patience.”
They reached the
door to the next car and Mirabel mashed on the panel. Nothing. No power, no
doors. She tried the manual handle, but it wouldn’t budge. If only Miss
Perfect-Priestess were here, then the door wouldn’t be able to fly open fast
enough.
“Oh bother,” she
said.
“Door haunted
too?”
“Handle denies
me. Seems rusted, and I wonder if they automatically power lock.”
She could barely
make out Felix’s nervous wince. “I wouldn’t expect that, Mirabel. Emergency
situations would turn fatalities.”
“That is not
happening with us.” She put her weight on the lever. It didn’t amount to much,
and the lever knew it.
“Let me try.”
Felix consisted
of average build and height, if not a tad lanky. Certainly not the strong type.
Petite Mirabel stood quite small, a whole head shorter, also not the strong
type, but she expected she could generate more strength. The alchemist didn’t
have the mind for it.
“Felix, darling,
put your hands here.” She directed his hands next to hers. “Press down on
three, yes?”
Violet light
washed over the handle they gripped before she got to “one.” She didn’t have to
turn around to know its source. It traveled up her arms and across the door. If
another passenger had opened a blind, the light source wouldn’t be nearing
them.
“Three-three-three,”
she shouted.
Felix threw down
on the handle alongside her. Perhaps he did have the mind for it when
terrified. With a shriek the lever punched into the open position, and the
partners threw their hands into the crevice at the door’s left.
“Get the blasted
thing open. Pull, Felix, do not look back.”
She made a
mistake. Everyone looks back when instructed not to. He turned his neck and got
an eyeful of something that forced a spate foul language. Such words didn’t
suit him. Pulling with whatever force her slender arms could muster, she joined
his blunder and looked over her shoulder.
About
the Author:
Sam Poling has been writing
fantasy and science fiction for the thrill of it his entire life, from short
stories to screenplays. His love for each of the subgenres led to dedication to
writing genre-skirting fiction with all the elements that make up the human
condition. He holds a strong enthusiasm for medical studies and currently works
as a medical assistant in a large clinic while taking classing for nursing. He
also serves on a health and safety committee, including disaster preparedness
and infection control. His interest in epidemiology and medical science tends
to spill over into his writing endeavors.
Author’s site: www.samuelpoling.com
Twitter: @SamuelPoling
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Samuel.T.Poling
Interview
Sam Poling – THE PART THAT DOESN’T BURN
Where
are you from?
I am from Marysville, Washington.
Tell
us your latest news?
My novel, THE PART THAT DOESNT BURN was just
released.
When
and why did you begin writing?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember, at
least since my early teens. I wrote to express the stories and characters
circling around in my head, begging to be brought to life.
When
did you first consider yourself a writer?
In Middle School I carried around notebooks filled
with “novels” I had written in a series. I considered myself a writer of sorts
around that time, I suppose.
What
inspired you to write your first book?
A great deal of things, but mostly it was my
protagonist and the other characters I came up with during story-telling games
and the like. They fit into a great story together and demanded to be put to
paper.
Do
you have a specific writing style?
I write to clarity over “prettiness” or
“wordiness,” with preference to strong verbs and nouns. And somehow my tone is
often wry, even in the darkest of hours.
How
did you come up with the title?
It refers to the human condition: that no matter
how much suffering you are put through, there is always a part of your humanity
the fires of hell cannot burn from you. My novel is about using that bit of
your humanity as your strength to fight back against the unfairness of the
world around you.
Is
there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
I want them to have fun with the characters, but if
they learn anything, I hope they discover the hidden strengths within
themselves.
How
much of the book is realistic?
Aside from what it has to say of the human heart,
nothing. It is entirely fantasy. However, witch hunts were a real, unfortunate
thing in our own world.
Are
experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
No. I’ve never known anyone to have to run from
geists or deal with demons or black-magic fueled insanity. Fortunately.
What
books have most influenced your life most?
With regards to big name authors, I like some of
their least known books such as Dean Koontz’s TICK TOCK, or Stephen King’s EYES
OF THE DRAGON. JURASSSIC PARK by Michael Crichton is another favorite.
If
you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Dr. Lisa C. Murphy, author of WYRMSTONE.
What
book are you reading now?
None, I’m trying to write one actually!
Are
there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Erika Gardner
What
are your current projects?
I am toying with sequel ideas for my novel.
What
would you like my readers to know?
Don’t hesitate to write reviews! Share your
thoughts.
Thanks for featuring my novel!
ReplyDelete