Hello Pandas! I've been a community member for about 9 months (and a lurker for who-knows-how-many years before that), but I've never made a post of my own...
[dramatic pause]
Until today!
The dramatic reason why? My first book, a YA Sci-Fi novel called SHARD, will be published on May 4, 2021 by a small independent press.
There's one glaring problem, though - I'm an unknown, a newbie, in a sea of established voices. Why would anyone take a chance on my little book?
And that's why I'm coming to all of my fellow Pandas with a truckload of advance review copies. Until my book is published on May 4, 2021, I'm giving away free e-book versions of my book through my website, www.ampierre.com. (Yes, the release date is intentional. Yes, I am a huge Star Wars nerd.)
If you sign up for my newsletter, you'll receive an email with links to SHARD. I want to be 100% clear - you DO NOT have to stay subscribed to the newsletter to get the book. Please feel free to click "unsubscribe" the instant you get the book - this was just the best means I had at my disposal to automate the process and get books quickly to everyone who wanted one.
The one thing I would love to have in return... is your opinion.
That's it. If you download SHARD and get a chance to read it, please tell someone what you think, for better or worse. Tell what you thought of it to the checkout lady at the local grocery store while she scans your rutabagas. Yell it at your annoying neighbor while you pound on the ceiling to get them to quiet down. Or even, I don’t know, post your honest thoughts on Goodreads or Amazon. Of course I hope you like it, but if you think it's the worst thing ever, I definitely need to know that, too :-)
"So what is the book about?" you're (hopefully) asking. So glad you asked! Here's the pitch:
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In our timeline, the Twin Towers attack was a horrific but isolated terrorist event.
Not in Kaia's.
Already living in a society of constant scrutiny and fear, Kaia finds her old life completely destroyed when a routine trip ends with her accused of terrorism and dragged into a new and high stakes world.
It is a world of lost children and covert ops, and of people with the power to alter the elements themselves, from creating tornadoes of oxygen to shifting the carbon in pencil lead into diamonds..
Dropped in the middle of this globe-spanning conflict, Kaia could find everything she ever wanted, or she could lose more than she ever thought possible.
And so could everyone else.
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SHARD stars a diverse cast of teens from around the world. It’s the first in a trilogy (but tells a complete story - no insane cliffhangers here!). It has action, suspense, humor, heart, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love, miracles... Okay, so some of that is from The Princess Bride, but some of it's true. I guess you'll have to read the book to find out which ;-).
If you have any questions about SHARD or about how to get your copy or about how to take far too many pictures of your cats, please let me know below.
https://www.ampierre.com/newsletter
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57609547-shard
https://amzn.com/B091M9Q17K
More info: ampierre.com
Here's my book's proof by some flowers in my yard.
Why? Because flowers are pretty. Seriously, you can't imagine how excited I was when this came in the mail.
Even Hibiki knows a good book when he sees, er, smells it ;-)
Hibiki is one of my two highly photogenic cats. I also have a highly adorable fluffball named Dita. Yes, I know I'm partial, and I'm okay with that.
My book by my Pappaw's rosebushes.
...and by the first little rose of the season. My Pappaw would have loved that this is finally happening. He was always my biggest fan. We lost him last May (to cancer, not COVID). Even though I've been an adult for awhile now, he would always give me a gift of $20 when he saw me. I bought these rosebushes with the last $20 he gave me.
The full wraparound cover for SHARD
SHARD - My first published book!
