DAY FIVE - October 21, 2016
It's the final day of Foster an Author week and it's been a ton of fun! My foster author, T.M. Franklin is hosting a Scavenger Hunt Giveaway all week and today I'm featuring her upcoming release The Talisman Chronicles.
Answer today's question in the Rafflecopter below and you could win a $25 Amazon Gift Card! The winner will be chosen at midnight, so be sure and check out all the previous posts so you don't miss any chances to win!
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A mysterious house. An old journal. A dusty chest holding more than secrets.
Each talisman found in the chest grants the chosen a gift, a unique ability. But with that power comes a burden, the duty of The Order.
Something is coming.
Something evil.
And it's up to The Order to stop it.
Chloe sat up in bed with a gasp, familiar electricity raising the hairs along her arms and the back of her neck. She could feel the call of the window—a soul-deep manifestation of the strange bond she had with the house—and knew it wanted to show her something.
She still didn't quite know how to describe what it felt like when the house called to her. It wasn't really a tingle, although there was an element of tingling. It wasn't uneasiness either, although the dip in her stomach could have been attributed to that in any other situation. The closest she could get was that feeling when you're lost, and then you round a familiar corner and things start to fall into place. You start walking faster and faster because you suddenly know where you're going. There's excitement and relief, and a pull to get to your goal that’s even stronger somehow because you've realized that you almost missed it.
Even that wasn't quite right, but it was the best she could do. Chloe guessed it wasn't something anyone could truly understand unless they'd felt the call of the house themselves. Only one other person she knew of ever had, and that person wasn't around anymore, so it wasn't like she could ask.
She slipped out of bed and made her way downstairs, skipping over the squeaky third step from the bottom. The window was waiting, dark and blank, save for the scene of the yard beyond, but Chloe knew something else was coming.
She waited, sliding an afghan up over her shoulders and drawing in quiet, silent breaths as the house settled around her. It only took three long inhales before the image shifted, a cloud of fog rolling over the glass. Chloe could just make out trees through the mist in the distance, a flat plain with a clearing in the center where a group of people were gathered. Her vantage point was above and behind them, as if she was viewing the scene from a hilltop far away, and she could only see their backs as they looked toward the edge of the forest. She could feel the tension, though, the waiting for something to happen.
Then, as one, the people ran toward the trees as the fog darkened, inky blackness oozing from the center, growing thick and sludgy as lightning flashed from the sky above. A swirling mass of dirt and darkness twisted out of the trees, throwing the people back and they sprawled on the ground, struggling to stand as the cyclone grew larger, drawing the light from everything around it. The darkness grew and seemed to coalesce into a solid mass—no, not quite solid, but heavy, oppressive, forcing the people below back to the ground as it descended upon them.
The vision continued until all Chloe could see was blackness. Until her breath came in ragged gasps and tears pricked at her eyes and then the window cleared, once again showing the front yard and the street beyond in the dim light of the moon.
If you'd like to be alerted when The Talisman Chronicles releases FOLLOW T.M. Franklin on AMAZON.
Here's Day Five's question for the Rafflecopter giveaway:
What is T.M. Franklin's dog's name?
(Hint: You can find him on T.M.'s Instagram - why not give her a follow while you're there?)
Good luck!
T.M. Franklin writes stories of adventure, romance, & a little magic. A former TV news producer, she decided making stuff up was more fun than reporting the facts. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days. MORE was well-received, being selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book Awards, as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book Fair Reader's Choice Awards. She's since written three additional novels and several best-selling short stories...and there's always more on the way.
Connect with T.M. Franklin
Web Site | Facebook | Twitter | Email
Ava Michaels used to think she was special. As a child, she fantasized about having magical powers . . . making things happen. But Ava grew up and eventually accepted the fact that her childish dreams were just that, and maybe a normal life wasn't so bad after all.