Today I'm delighted to welcome fellow Astraea Press author Sara Burr to my blog with a chance to check out her new book Underground Rose....
After her surprise discovery of a mystical gift,
fourteen-year-old Rose Wilson thinks her life is ruined. It turns out she comes
from a long line of gifted women, and despite her protests, Rose’s mom ships her
off to her grandmother’s house to spend the summer learning about her family’s
well-hidden secrets. To make matters worse, Rose is expected to carry out
this tradition alongside her mousy, bookworm cousin, Megan. What
a waste of a summer.
With some effort,
Rose and Megan manage to find
common ground and by the time they get home, they’re working together to adjust to their new life. But everything is turned upside down again when their families are exposed
by witch hunters who call themselves The
Witches’ Hammer. With killers on the loose, their tiny town isn't safe anymore. Rose’s entire family is fragmented and forced to flee through a network of hiding places,
dubbed The Witches’ Underground Railroad.
As she journeys to the sea, Rose learns more and more about
who she really is. The closer she gets to her
destination, the more danger she encounters, until she
is forced to make the ultimate decision: follow her family’s edict of
non-violence and become an orphan, or save her mom’s life.
Underground Rose Excerpt:
Was It Magic?
A pool of blood already surrounded Amber's head, and she was as pale
as a ghost. Her breathing was shallow and labored.
Rose started parting her wet hair, little by little, trying to find
the wound. Finally, after the longest minute of her life, she found it. The
wide cut was right on the crown of Amber's head – how could she have missed
that? – and it was bleeding fast.
Fighting not to gag at the metallic smell, Rose put her hands on the
slippery gash and pushed, like the lady said, but the blood just seeped through
her fingers. The bleeding wasn't stopping. Was she doing it right?
Feeling completely helpless, she began to sob.
She didn't dare leave Amber again to go back to the phone.
“I don't know what to do!” she cried out. “Help,” she croaked,
knowing no one could hear. “Please help.”
Suddenly, she felt something strange happening, deep inside her
chest. A comforting warmth, like hot chocolate on a freezing cold day, heated
her from the inside out. It spread and expanded from her chest, bubbling and
tingling like a fizzy drink, growing like wild morning glory vines, covering
every part of her insides.
Was it coming from her heart?
It grew until she felt like she couldn’t contain all that heat for
one second longer. Then, when she thought she might just explode, the
heat-vines raced down her arms. An effervescent mixture of blue, pink, and
purple light exploded from her hands, and surrounded Amber's head like a
quivering, transparent cocoon.
Rose sucked in a breath and blinked in disbelief.
She was frozen – afraid to move or even breathe. She stared with her
mouth agape, her emerald eyes wide, as the bleeding slowed.
What the heck is happening? she thought. Is this a dream?
She didn't understand what she was seeing. Was it ... magic?
The glimmering cocoon continued pulsating from her fingertips, surrounding
Amber's head. Rose didn't dare let go, for fear of undoing this miracle.
Then Amber started to stir.
This was not something Rose wanted to discuss. What kind of a freak
would Amber think she was? Reluctantly, she removed her hands.
The vines of warmth snapped back into her, like a recoiling measuring
tape. Then, the peculiar sensation was gone. No more heat. No more colors. She
looked at her hands in a mixture of awe and disgust.
What was that? she asked
herself.
She didn't know, but she was glad it was over.
A few short seconds later, Amber opened her eyes. Her face so pale
her freckles looked three dimensional and her icy blue eyes were even more
clear than usual.
Buy the book:
About the Author:
Sara has been entranced by the written word
for as long as she can remember. The daughter of a school teacher, she fell in
love with books as soon as she could read them. She wrote her very first story,
about a girl who ran away and hid in her cousin’s lilac bush, when she was just
eleven. Although her stories have grown more complicated and less petulant
since then, Sara still loves to entertain kids with her words.
When she isn’t writing, Sara has a big
family to keep her busy: a husband who is her other half, and four children who
are wonderfully individual. They live next to a beautiful lake in a tiny town
with no street lights. Sara spends lots of time taking care of little
superheroes. She likes to camp with her family, enjoys traveling, and hopes to
see the Northern Lights someday.
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