Guest Post: Author Shelley Workinger + Giveaway

Today at Tink's Place, please welcome Shelley Workinger, author of Solid and a brand new addition to her series, Settling. Both are excellent YA reads about a mysterious genetic experiment, cover ups, and what happens when they're found out, and it's surrounded by the US Army and one crazed scientist. Join Calliope's gang to discover more! 

Ms. Workinger is an andie author who has found her niche.

Welcome Shelley!!

Today Shelley is going to share some of her thoughts about reading and the love for it. Why we choose to read, what makes us desire to read. So, please help me welcome Shelley to Tink's Place!

The very first time I talked to a newspaper reporter about “Solid,” she asked me if I was a big reader in junior high and high school – the age group I was writing for. I know I shocked her by answering, “No.”

It’s not like I didn’t like books; it was the opposite, in fact – I loved reading until I reached the age where the required reading at school was both so massive and, frankly, so boring, that the last thing I wanted to do was pick up another book in my free time when I was sure it’d no better than the rest.

Things have definitely changed since then; digital formats make so many more titles accessible (I lived nowhere near a bookstore); the blogosphere is filled with targeted suggestions (I had no resource to help me find stuff I’d like); and teachers and schools have changed tack in a big way. My friend that teaches high school English assigns books like “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” and “The Book Thief,” along with the less-painful classics, like “The Great Gatsby.” I feel that a lot of people in my generation came to the same conclusion that I did – you foster the love of reading by introducing kids to books they’ll love, not massive tomes of ye olde torture – and are doing something about it.

I also think it’s important for staunch proponents of sticking to the same old standards to know that just because many new YA reads are fun and fast, it doesn’t mean they’re dumbed down. I might even argue the opposite, actually! I know that details that yank you out of the narrative – How can that character be using a Droid in 2009 when it didn’t come out until 2010? – get me every time, and I think young adults are the quickest to catch those kinds of slips, which keeps me on my toes! Maybe that’s even one reason why some readers are so reluctant – they don’t always trust the writer, or feel that he or she is really writing for them. Just because I didn’t know anything about chromosomes and bandwidths when I started writing didn’t mean the readers wouldn’t, and I worked to make sure that even though my story was highly improbable, it was not impossible.

I’ve been thrilled with the feedback I’ve received for both “Solid” and “Settling,” and I do hope readers see how seriously I consider their thoughts and time and how the series is very much being written for them.

Now, Shelley would like one lucky reader to have the opportunity to read her new novel, Settling. If you'd like to give it a try, leave a comment. If you're a blog follower, leave a comment for an extra entry. Follow me on Networked Blog to pick up another entry. It's an excellent read!!

Settling by Shelley Workinger (ARC Review)

Publisher:  CreateSpace/Shelley Workinger
Pages:  242

Release Date:  July 4, 2011

From the Cover:

At the beginning of the summer, Clio Kaid was one of a hundred teens brought to a secret Army installation.

But it was no ordinary camp and they weren’t ordinary kids…

Soon after learning they were the products of a secret genetic experiment, the teens began developing super-abilities ranging from bounding lightness to blocking heaviness; blinding brilliance and the ability to vanish. These same gifts made them targets of a psychopath in officer’s clothing, and they found themselves fighting for their lives.

Picking up where “Solid” left off, Clio and her friends realize that they aren’t ready to go home; they’re determined to stay on campus and continue their journey of self- discovery. But someone doesn’t feel the same way and will do anything to drive them away – even kill.

Friendships will be tested, abilities will evolve, and more secrets will come out as the teens race to stop the killer before he sets his sights on one of them…

Clio, Calliope Kaid, seems to have everything working for her. She's found her niche, even if it's at an Army installation because some whacked out Army doc on a power high corrupted her genome, like everyone else at the camp. She has the most awesome guy in camp as her boyfriend. Not that she and all of her friends at the camp haven't had the lives screwed up, having to deal with the aftermath of the CX9 experiment Dr. Heigl put their pregnant mothers through. Now, they've all discovered these special abilites... the stars, the jocks, the heavies, and the stealths, each with their own unique ability. And, they've decided to keep the camp open, let the kids attend school there. A place where they fit in.

But, something else is happening to Clio, something she can't explain. She's angry when she doesn't need to be. She finds herself attracted to Ford, Lt. Graham when she really shouldn't be, especially with the awesomely hot Jack waiting for her. What the heck is going on with her?

Then, Dr. Larson (who doesn't really have any fans at the camp) is murdered, placing everyone under suspicion. Do they have another killer hidden within their ranks?

Settling by Shelley Workinger is an excellent follow up to Solid. The characters are well developed, and I found myself liking them as much in this book as I had in the last. (Except I wanted to kick Clio in the patootie.) For me, the story seemed a little slower paced than the first book, but I think that's because I already knew all the characters, and the plot unfolded in a way that I didn't think it would go. All in all, I very much enjoyed Settling. It tells the next part of Clio's life and summer at the New Jersey Army Installation. There's so much we don't know about that's going on in those massive buildings, and I wanted to grab one of the kids, and demand to explore. And why do they need blood draws, if the Army is only trying to figure out how Doctor Demento's work (Heigl) then one draw should be enough, right? Is the Army hiding something up their sleeves? All questions I'll be looking to Book #3 for answers.

Settling is a YA paranormal romance/fantasy about what can go wrong during an unauthorized experimentation. If you a fan to preternatural storylines, give this Indie author a try, I don't think you'll be disappointed, I know I wasn't. I think Settling could be read as a stand alone, but I think you'd get a much better feel for the characters, their backgrounds, and connections (as well as the abilities) if you read Solid, Book 1 and follow it with Settling, Book 2.  I recommend this book to YA lovers, PRN and UF lovers, and fantasy lovers, something for everyone. For now, I'll be patiently waiting to read Book 3, I'm left wondering where this story will go next. Also, everyone please stop back by my blog on June 28, 2011. Ms. Workinger will be here to tell us a little more about her series and to hold a giveaway. Mark your calendars!

Solid by Shelley Workinger

Publisher:  CreateSpace
Pages:  228

(July 9, 2010)

From the Cover:

Eighteen years ago, a rogue Army doctor secretly experimented with a chromosomal drug on unknowing pregnant women. When he was killed not long after the children were born, any knowledge and evidence seemed to die with him - except for the living, breathing, human products of his work.

Almost two decades later, the newly self-proclaimed "open-book" military unearths the truth about the experiment, bringing Clio Kaid and the other affected teens to a state-of-the-art, isolated campus where they soon discover that C9x did indeed alter their chromosomes, its mutations presenting as super-human abilities. The military kids, who come from across the nation and all walks of life, come into their own as lighter-than-air 'athletes'; 'indies' as solid as stone walls; teens who can make themselves invisible and others who can blind with their brilliance.

While exploring her own special ability, forging new friendships and embarking on first love, Clio also stumbles onto information indicating that the military may not have been entirely forthcoming with them and that all may not be as it seems...

Clio (Calliope Kaid) is a teen with a small difference that she's never known about, but she's always been a bit out of place.  It could have been the traveling, when your mother is a best selling author, you're on the road quite a bit, seldom at home long enough to cultivate lasting friendships.  She's never really known her father, an accident took his life during her infancy.  Or it could be what happened more than eighteen years before... while her mother was pregnant and under the care of a rogue doctor with his own agenda.

Now, Clio is an eighteen year old girl, ready to start the next year of her life when her mother is contact by the Army.  It seems Dr. Heigl, her obstetrician all those years ago, was prescribing more than prenatal vitamins.  When Clio is asked to participate in an Army conducted camp to see the effects on Dr. Heigl's "children", she decides it may not be a bad way to spend part of her summer, as far as she knows, there's nothing different about her than any other teen.

Clio's and her co-conspirators start in their own investigation of the circumstances of their creation when the Army answers don't add up, when they seems to have trouble contacting the outside world. Jack, affable lovable wanna be boyfriend, Garrett, super jock, Bliss, whimsically wise almost sister, Melinda, tigress in the making, and late comer to the group, Alexis, orphaned goth-like teen techie ready for any challenge, take on the Army only way they can, sneaking out to gather evidence.

It would seem that Clio and all her new found friends all have special abilities, dealing with the solidity of their existence.  All are different, but because of Dr. Heigl's mad experiments, all are the same.  Janet, Clio's wanna be mentor and friend, isn't all she appears to be, is Colonel Clark, who seems to know all about Clio, all he says too?  This tight group of friends need to find the answers to their questions and they need to do it quickly.

Solid by Shelley Workinger is a YA fantasy that grabs the reader's attention on the very first page, and holds it until the end.  It's a quick little page turner that I had trouble putting down.  Clio is a likable character who seems pretty confident, who seems pleased with her life for the most part, she's just a little out of step.  In the book, Solid, the teens are divided into basically three categories:  the jocks, the teens that repel others (the goth-like group, always a little angry), and the group who can influence their solidity with their very thoughts.  Clio belongs to the last group, but her friends are a mixed bag of her group as well as the other groups, there's so distinct lines of belonging to only one group or the other, which I very much liked about the book.  Jack, her wanna be boyfriend, doesn't belong to any group or maybe he belongs to them all, but he's likable and fun, and maybe in the next book, he'll play a bigger role or maybe not (I've read the Prologue for the Book Two, Settling.... see the bottom of the post).  The teens in the story all find out the Dr. Heigl, obstetrician, was doing rogue experiments, developed drugs to try out on his patients who he went to great lengths to pick out for his experiments, traveling to different Army bases around the US.  But, he's killed before the experiment can reach it's completion, and the Army claims to have just found out about what he'd been doing to his pregnant patients.  But, would the Army really tell all if they did know?  People have been disappeared, killed, maybe something more is going on there too.


Solid is an attention grabbing story, that YA and adult audience will enjoy, it's a fun little tale of what can happen with a rogue slightly mad scientist does his own thing with or without permission.  And the experiment so far doesn't have any really bad effects yet, all the teens are nice looking, some appear to have adjust issues just like real life, but we're just entering Shelley Workinger's world, so who knows what the future holds.  The ending is good as well, I knew something was up with the bad dude, but never saw the ending coming, and one of the students close to Clio's group is involved too, that kind of surprised me.  I've been reading lots of YA recently, it's one of my favorite genres, and I'm adding Shelley's books to my list.  I don't read many self-pub books or indie books (I know, I need to expand my horizons), and I'm surprised this wasn't pick up by one of the small publishing houses, it's definitely a good read with well developed characters, and the world building was pretty good too, there's lots going on for quick read.  If you enjoy a quick fun/mad scientist/Army secrets/fantasy YA read, pick this one up.  I very much enjoyed this quick read, and I'll be looking forward to the rest of the series!

 (Borrowed from the author website, Prologue follows)

Prologue

By none of my own volition, I abandoned my chair to meet him in his – uninvited maybe, but not unwelcome. One minute I’d been seated, steady; the next traversing the gap between us without touching down. All I knew was that there’d been nothing but air supporting me until I’d climbed into his lap and connected with the solidness of him.

His response to my assault was not immediate, clutching the armrests as long as conceivably possible while waging an inner battle between desire and decorum. His conflict – his need for me held in check by his uncertainty – froze his body as if he were scared of me. Or more likely not so much of me as of us.

Breaking his resistance, I ran my hands up his shoulders to touch his fine hair, prickly soft under my fingertips. On his lap, facing him, I nudged up his chin, making him look into my eyes and see that this was what I wanted, what I needed. Our faces a breadth apart, I felt heady breathing in the delicious scent of him. My heart sped up to match beats with his, my hunger for him an intensity I’d never experienced when I claimed the first kiss.

That first taste was like the first bite of the apple, the one action that opened the floodgates. So this was why Eve was the slandered one, the seductress. And in the same instant that I knew there was no going back, that nothing could tear me away from this forbidden nectar, he stopped fighting and met me there, joined me in the us. His hands smoothly traded the armrests for my waist, his strong fingers spreading across my lower back as he pulled me more securely onto the seat. My knees slid up to his hips, my legs still folded underneath me but now pressing against the outside of his. Now it was he who deepened the kiss, hurtling from concession to conviction, keeping a firm claim on my backside as I bowed deeper against his chest.

Without fully separating, we both inhaled a necessary gasp at the same instant, seeming to breathe in the same pocket of air, resealing our lips with yet more urgency. Where did the air come from when your need for each other was too fierce to even break for a second? More even than just I want you, but I need you - need you more than air?

As if from a distance I heard my own throaty moans, vaguely aware that I should be embarrassed by the near-growling, but his grip only tightened at the sound. The heat climbing higher, his hands followed suit, up my back and sides all at once, over my bursting ribcage, rounding the tops of my shoulders and trailing down to rest lightly on the front of my biceps in an unexpected but tender hold. I wanted the moment to last forever. He was so strong yet safe, soft and vulnerable all at the same time. So intense, so overwhelming, so…not Jack.

As a side note, I'd like to add CreateSpace posted that the Amazon and Penguin are holding a writing comp, more details click here.

I received my copy from Shelley Workinger for review.  All opinions expressed are my own.